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Lourdes saw its 2019 season come to an end in heart-breaking fashion on Thursday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves fell in five sets to Benedictine Mesa 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 26-28, 15-13 in the final match of pool play at the NAIA National Championships held inside the Johnson Wellness Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
"I am very proud of the team for the way they played today," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "They showed their true character with the quality performance in a difficult situation.  That is what this season was about, being genuinely good people on and off the court.  I am proud of the strides this program made this year.  The seniors are leaving us in a very good position."
 
Benedictine Mesa led the entire opening set, building an early 10-4 lead.  A 5-1 run by the Gray Wolves pulled Lourdes within one, 16-15.  The Gray Wolves were never able to even up the set though, despite 17 kills in the stanza.
 
In the second, Benedictine Mesa took the early lead, 9-4, only to see the Gray Wolves use a 7-1 run to forge in front 13-12.  Trailing 19-18, Lourdes closed on a 7-3 spurt to even the match.  Lourdes hit just .036 in the second, but limited the Redhawks to just seven kills on nine errors for a -.069 hitting effort.
 
The Redhawks started fast in the third, taking a 17-10 lead, only to see Lourdes rally.  A 6-2 run pulled Lourdes to within four, 22-18, and the Gray Wolves fought off three set points before falling by two.
 
Lourdes took the early lead in the fourth set, and led 19-15 before holding off a Redhawk rally.  With the Gray Wolves a 23-20 advantage, Benedictine Mesa scored five of the six points to earn a match point.  Lourdes fought that one off, and one other before eventually evening the match at two sets, scoring the final three points.
 
The Gray Wolves scored the opening point of the final stanza, but Benedictine Mesa scored the next three points, and would not trail the rest of the way, opening up an 8-5 lead at the changeover.  Lourdes closed the gap to one, 11-10, but the teams would trade sideouts the rest of the way, as the Redhawks closed out the match.
 
Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) led Lourdes with 25 kills while Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) and Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) added 16 and 15 kills respectively.  Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) dished out 58 assists as Lourdes hit .158 as a team for the match.
 
Defensively, Matheus Andrade (Coronel Fabriciano, Brazil/Alberto Giovanni H.S.) tallied a match-high 17 digs while Gebert and Ricardo Gehrke had 11 each.  Henrique Gehrke had a team-high three blocks.
 
Devin Hill led third-ranked Benedictine Mesa with 12 kills while Jesus Izaguirre tallied 15 digs.  Bobby Henige was involved in 12 of the Redhawks 23 blocks.
 
Lourdes season ends with a 24-5 record while Benedictine Mesa (24-5) advances to the championship semifinals.