Playing inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center for the first time this season, third-ranked Lourdes cruised to a 25-11, 25-11, 25-18 victory over Lawrence Tech to begin Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Wednesday night.
 
"This was a good way to start off the conference season," head coach Greg Reitz said following the match.  "We served and passed very well and had a high level of play throughout the match. We got strong performances from everyone on the roster."
 
Lourdes scored the first five points of the match and never looked back in the opening set.  The Gray Wolves did not allow the Blue Devils to score a single point on its own serve in the stanza, and Lourdes hit .636 with 16 kills on 22 swings.
 
The Gray Wolves led 9-8 in set two before going on a 12-2 run to break the set open.  Lourdes committed just one attack error in the second set on the way to building a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The final set saw Lourdes race out to a 14-5 lead before withstanding a late Lawrence Tech run to secure the sweep.
 
Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) led the way with 12 kills and hit .800 offensively.  Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) added 11 kills, hit .529, and tallied four service aces, while Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) handed out 23 assists in the first two sets.  As a team Lourdes finished the match hitting .425.
 
Defensively, the Gray Wolves outdug Lawrence Tech 33-14, with Guga Heidrich (Braco do Norte, Brazil/Colegio Unificado H.S.) leading the way with nine digs.
 
Patrick Newell paced Lawrence Tech (1-4, 0-1 WHAC) with seven kills and six digs.
 
Lourdes (5-0, 1-0) begins a six-match road trip on Saturday evening, as the Gray Wolves travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. to battle Indiana Tech.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside the Schaefer Center.