Fifth-ranked Lourdes University's men's volleyball team earned its third consecutive victory to open the 2021 season on Friday evening, defeating Cornerstone 25-21, 25-13, 22-25, 25-10 inside Mol Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"We started out well and were able to build a pretty solid lead," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We weren't able to maintain our momentum in the third, but we got it back in the fourth.  We need to train to be at our best all the time."
 
An 11-3 run in the opening set allowed Lourdes to break open a tight set and build a 19-10 advantage, but the Golden Eagles rallied, scoring seven straight points to pull within two.  The Gray Wolves never gave up the lead late in the set though, hitting .481 in the stanza.
 
Lourdes never trailed in set two and swung at a .345 clip on the way to building a 2-0 lead in the match while holding Cornerstone to a -.065 mark.  The Gray Wolves tallied 31 kills over the first two frames.
 
In the third, Cornerstone took the lead 12-9 as part of a 4-0 spurt and never relinquished the advantage on the way to extending the match.  The Gray Wolves were within one, 20-19, but the hosts scored the next four points on the way to the set win.
 
The Gray Wolves dominated in the fourth.  Lourdes raced out to a 10-2 advantage and never looked back in scoring the victory while on the road for the first time this season.  The Gray Wolves had nine kills and hit .467 in the set while limiting the Golden Eagles to another negative hitting stanza (-.158).
 
Lourdes hit .317 for the match with 50 kills led by Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.).  The senior put down a match-high 14 kills while swing at a .571 clip.  He committed just two attack errors.
 
Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Roi Branco) handed out a team-high 27 assists while Lam served up four aces.
 
Defensively, Guga Heidrich (Braco do Norte, Brazil/Colegio Unificado) tallied 13 digs as the Gray Wolves held a 45-24 edge in that statistical category.  Harrison McBean (Melbourne, Australia/Northern College of the Arts) was involved in three of Lourdes four blocks.
 
Cade Meza led Cornerstone (0-4, 0-2 WHAC) with eight kills as the Golden Eagles hit just .080 for the night.  Max Hernandez dished out 20 assists and registered a team-high eight digs.
 
Lourdes (3-0, 2-0) will return home next Friday to host Goshen.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.