Shawnee State Photo Gallery
Grace Photo Gallery

Lourdes registered its first two victories of the 2019 season on Friday on the opening day of the Gray Wolf Invitational held inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.  The Gray Wolves won the opener against Shawnee State 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-13 before downing Grace 18-25, 25-16, 25-23, 28-26.
 
Against Shawnee State, Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) set a school single match record with 40 digs, surpassing her own old mark of 39 set in 2017.  Allie Hale (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) added 24 kills and 19 digs in Lourdes' first victory of the season.
 
"We are very pleased with the effort put forth to earn this team win," head coach Greg Reitz said after the first match.  "We didn't play the cleanest match, but we walked away with the win.  This team showed some grit in how they competed when down.  This was a positive step for the team, and now we have to build upon it with consistency."
 
Lourdes came out fast in the opening set, scoring seven of the first eight points.  The Gray Wolves led by as many as eight, 13-5, on the way to the early advantage.  Shawnee State responded in the second, utilizing runs of 5-0 and 6-0 to even the match.
 
In the third, the Gray Wolves hit .255 and scored seven straight points on the serve of Annika Devendorf (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion H.S.) to build a 21-12 lead on the way to taking the set.  The Bears evened the match in the fourth, scoring the final seven points after the stanza was tied at 18.
 
In the fifth, Shawnee State (2-9) built an 11-8 lead and was still in front 13-11 when the Gray Wolves scored the final four points, two on kills by Hale and two more by Elise Sanford (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.).
 
Sanford finished the match with 11 kills and hit .375 while Megan Vayansky (Pickerington, Ohio/North H.S.) and Devendorf both handed out 26 assists.  Vayansky had a double-double with 12 digs as well while Devendorf registered four service aces.  Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) added 26 digs.
 
Macie Rhoads led Shawnee State with 19 kills and 23 digs while Stacia Martin had 37 digs.
 
In the nightcap against Grace, Lourdes never led in the opening set and tallied just nine kills in the stanza in falling behind early in the match.  The Gray Wolves rebounded in the second set with 15 kills and a .464 hitting percentage in evening the match.  Eight straight points off Vayansky's serve opened up an 18-7 advantage.
 
The third set saw 14 ties as neither team hit better than .058.  Lourdes trailed 23-22 but managed to score the final three points, taking advantage of two Lancer errors, to win the set.  Lourdes had to rally in the fourth to pull out the victory.  The Gray Wolves trailed 24-20 and fought off six set points before emerging triumphant.
 
"This wasn't our prettiest match, but we got the win at the end of it," Reitz added after the final contest.  "We are continuing to improve and are playing with more grit and determination this weekend."
 
Kylee McBride (Peoria, Ariz./Mountain Ridge H.S.) led Lourdes with 14 kills while Hale added 13 more against Grace.  Vayansky handed out 21 assists while Devendorf had 19 to go along with 11 digs.
 
Dippold had a match-high 23 digs while Plasencio added 16 more.  Kennedy Ames (Milan, Ohio/Edison H.s.) chipped in 13 digs.
 
Anna Frey led Grace (2-8) with 19 kills and 17 digs.
 
Lourdes (2-0) will close out action in the Gray Wolf Invitational on Saturday afternoon.  The Gray Wolves host West Virginia Tech beginning at 4:30 p.m. inside the Ebeid Rec Center.