Lourdes closed out its opening weekend of the season on Saturday at the Phoenix Classic, sweeping Missouri Valley before downing Cumberland (Tenn.) by the same 3-0 score inside of Floyd Arena in Lebanon, Tenn.
 
The Gray Wolves began the day with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-12 win over Missouri Valley and defeated the Phoenix 25-23, 25-15, 25-23.
 
The opening set against the Vikings was tied at 12 before Lourdes went on a 6-0 run behind the service of Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.).  The Gray Wolves never looked back in taking the early lead in the match. 
 
Lourdes had to rally in set two.  Trailing 17-12, the Gray Wolves went on a 9-1 run to pull in front for good.  Lourdes never trailed in the final set, hitting .600 with 15 kills on just 25 swings without an attack error.  The Gray Wolves built an early 11-3 lead on the way to the sweep.
 
"We had to battle in this match," head coach Greg Reitz said following the opener.  "It took a little while to find our rhythm, but we found it.  Our service was a little inconsistent, but our offense and defense gave us a lot of chances."
 
Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) led Lourdes with 16 kills and hit .344 while Lam added 13 kills while swinging at a .407 clip.  Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) had a double-double with 11 kills and a match-high 14 digs.
 
Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) handed out 36 assists while leading an offense that hit .340 for the match.  Guga Heidrich (Braco do Norte, Brazil/Colegio Unificado H.S.) added 12 digs as Lourdes held a 46-35 advantage in that category.
 
Vitor Santos and Daniel Isernhagen led Missouri Valley (2-2) with six kills each while Joao Victor Bonanoni had 11 digs.  The Vikings hit just .100 for the match.
 
In the evening against host Cumberland, the Phoenix led 15-11 in the opening set before Lourdes went on an 11-3 run to pull in front for good.  An early 8-1 run put the Gray Wolves on top 14-6 in the second as the Gray Wolves built a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
Lourdes led 15-8 in the third set before holding off a late surge by Cumberland.  The Phoenix fought back to take a 23-22 lead, but the Gray Wolves scored the final three points to earn the victory.
 
"We struggled a bit to get into a rhythm passing, but once we did we were able to get our middles going," Reitz said of the second match.  "We made a lot of unforce attack errors and will have to work on that, but overall it was a solid weekend."
 
Lam and Harrison McBean (Melbourne, Australia/Northern College of the Arts) led the Gray Wolves with nine kills each, with McBean hitting .727.  Henrique Gehrke handed out 36 assists for Lourdes as the team hit .278 for the match.
 
Defensively, Heidrich had seven digs while Max Petuhov (West Hills, Calif./El Camino Real H.S.) registered five blocks.
 
Lourdes (4-0) will head to the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center for the Gray Wolves' home and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday evening against Lawrence Tech.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.