After dropping the first two sets, Lourdes rebounded to win the third before Aquinas closed out the match in the fourth on Friday evening with a 25-14, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23 victory over the Gray Wolves inside the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"We got off to a very cold start," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We were able to figure some of our systems out, but we didn't maintain it long enough to win the match.  We are looking to make the switch going forward."
 
Aquinas scored the first six points of the match on the way to a 10-1 lead.  The Gray Wolves were able to pull within five, 16-11, but the Saints closed the set with nine of the final 12 points. Lourdes managed just five kills in the opening set while hitting -.071.
 
The second set was tight throughout.  Lourdes took a 21-19 lead late in the stanza but was unable to hold on as Aquinas built a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 
The Gray Wolves battled back in the third to extend the match.  Lourdes scored the first seven points of the stanza and built a 15-6 lead.  The Saints fought back, closing to within two, 20-18, but the Gray Wolves held on.
 
Aquinas jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the fourth before the Gray Wolves came storming back.  Ten straight points through Lydia Landoll's (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) serve put Lourdes on top 14-12.  The lead remained two, 19-17, before the Saints tallied six consecutive points of their own to take the lead for good and close out the match.
 
McKenna Hall (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) paced the Lourdes offense with 12 kills while Katey Stakolich (Parma, Ohio/Normandy H.S.) handed out 37 assists while directing an offense that hit just .113 for the match.  Landoll registered four service aces.
 
Stakolich also led the Gray Wolves with 19 digs to complete a double-double.  Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) added 14 digs while Vanessa Villarreal (Monroe, Mich./Saint Mary Central Catholic H.S.) contributed 12 more.
 
Meredith Kraus had a match-high 15 kills for Aquinas (18-12, 9-6 WHAC) while Adrien Yondo recorded 18 digs.
 
Lourdes (9-14, 5-9) will wrap up their weekend trip to Grand Rapids on Saturday afternoon, heading across town to face Cornerstone.  First serve is set for 1 p.m. inside of Mol Arena.