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Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: For the fourth consecutive season, and fifth time overall, Lourdes heads to the NAIA National Championships this week.  The Gray Wolves will face a pair of familiar foes in Saint Andrews and Aquinas in pool play, both of whom Lourdes faced in the regular season.  Lourdes will then close out pool play against Benedictine Mesa.  

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his eighth season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 159-62 (.719) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  He has earned six conference Coach of the Year honors during his first eight seasons at Lourdes.  He is the only head coach in program history.

Series Notes: The Gray Wolves are 4-0 against Saint Andrews dating back to Feb. 9, 2018.  Lourdes swept the Knights at home on Jan. 25 while also posting a five-set win in Laurinburg, N.C. on March 10 of this season.  Lourdes downed Saint Andrews in four sets during pool play in last year's national tournament.   The Gray Wolves are 3-0 all-time against Aquinas, with all three meetings coming this season.  Lourdes downed the Saints in four sets on March 1 in the Ebeid Rec Center before notching a three-set win on Mach 22 in Grand Rapids, Mich.  The Gray Wolves also downed Aquinas on April 6 in straight sets in the WHAC championship match.  Lourdes is 2-1 against Benedictine Mesa in a series that began Feb. 4, 2017.  Last year the Gray Wolves won the first meeting in four sets at home before the Redhawks won a four-set contest in Des Moines, Iowa in the NAIA National Semifinals.
 
Wrapping Up Last Week (or Two Weeks Ago): Lourdes swept Lawrence Tech in the WHAC semifinals 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 on April 5 at home to begin the league tournament.  Evan Gebert put down 10 kills, had eight digs, and hit .471 in the victory.  In the championship on April 6, the Gray Wolves swept sixth-ranked Aquinas 25-21, 25-22, 25-19.  Gebert tallied 14 kills while Henrique Gehrke had a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs.

Scouting Saint Andrews: The Knights have won eight straight matches after sweeping Campbellsville in the MSC championship.  Jacob DeSouza leads Saint Andrews offensively with 219 kills and hits .248 while Jackson Stark has 836 assists.  Daryn Friedman leads the team with 48 service aces.  Defensively, Carlos Rodriguez has a team-high 197 digs while Ben Twigger has tallied 88 blocks.

Scouting Aquinas: The Saints only three losses this season came at the hands of Lourdes, including in the WHAC Championship.  Zane Moothart leads the team with 283 kills and is hitting .290 while Colby Elder has handed out 1,016 assists.  Joshua Boothroyd has recorded 38 service aces.  Defensively, Josh Evers has tallied 266 digs while Will Donald has a team-high 81 blocks.

Scouting Benedictine Mesa: The Redhawks enter the tournament having won three straight matches after downing Menlo in four sets in the GSAC championship.  Logan Adcock leads the team with 268 kills while hitting .255.  Adcock is also the team leader with 43 service aces.  Jaron Jones has handed out 827 assists.  Defensively, Jesus Izaguirre has tallied 253 digs while Bobby Henige has a team-leading 71 blocks. 

Capturing the WHAC Titles: Lourdes captured the first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference title in league history, the Gray Wolves' third regular season league crown in program history.  The Gray Wolves then took home the tournament championship, its fifth league or group banner.

Lourdes in the National Tournament: Lourdes has been in the NAIA National Invitational each of the last three years, and four times overall entering this year's championships.  The Gray Wolves are 4-8 all-time, including a 2-2 mark last year, a season in which Lourdes advanced out of pool play for the first time, eventually falling to Benedictine Mesa in the national semifinals.

WHAC Award  Winners: Greg Reitz was named the WHAC Coach of the Year while Jeff Lam earned WHAC Player of the Year honors.  Henrique Gehrke was also honored as the WHAC Setter of the Year for the 2019 season.

More Honors: In addition to the major award winners, Jeff Lam, Henrique Gehrke, Evan Gebert, and Ricardo Gehrke were named First Team All-WHAC selections while Brendan Brown garnered Second Team All-WHAC accolades.  In addition, Brady Boyle was named to the WHAC All-Freshman Team.

Record Book Watch: Evan Gebert has moved into second place on the school's career kills list with 930.  He only trails Frank Craig's (2012-2015) 1,002 kills.  Gebert also has moved into a tie with Jo'Lon Clark (2014-2015) for the school record with 69 service aces.  Henrique Gehrke is second all-time with 1,633 career assists, trailing Ryan Ferkel's (2014-2017) 2,282 assists.  Brendan Brown is second all-time with 304 blocks, behind Craig's career total of 315.  Brown is also second in attack percentage at .374, trailing just Ryan Maune's .439 clip.

Single Season Marks: Jeff Lam has set the single season mark with 44 service aces this year.  Henrique Gehrke is just 63 assists shy of Ryan Ferkel's 2016 single season mark of 1,011 assists, entering the tournament with 948 helpers.  

This and That: Lourdes has not been swept in a match since Feb. 23, 2018 against UC Merced, a span of 40 matches ... the Gray Wolves have won 21 consecutive home matches, including a perfect 13-0 this season ... the Gray Wolves have won six straight matches against NAIA top-10 teams (6-0 this season) and are 28-48 all-time against ranked foes.