Lourdes won the first two sets and had three match points in the third set before Concordia (Mich.) rallied to defeat the Gray Wolves 21-25, 25-27, 28-26, 25-17, 15-12 on Saturday afternoon inside of Cardinal Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor, Mich.
 
"We started the match playing at a pretty good level but were unable to maintain it," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "They made some adjustments and they really impacted our level of play."
 
Trailing 12-11 in the opening set, Lourdes scored nine of the next 12 points to take the lead.  The Gray Wolves would not relinquish the advantage the remainder of the set to take the early lead in the match.
 
Concordia scored the first seven points of the second set and led by as many as eight, 13-5, before Lourdes battled back.  Trailing 18-11, the Gray Wolves scored seven of the next eight points to pull within one.  The Cardinals pushed the lead back to 23-19 but Lourdes answered again.  The Gray Wolves scored eight of the final 10 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
In the third, the set was tight throughout.  Lourdes had a chance to put the match away, leading 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25, but the Cardinals responded each time to extend the contest.  Concordia then built an early 9-4 lead in the fourth and never looked back on the way to forcing the decisive set.
 
A 6-2 Concordia run in the fifth allowed the hosts to build a 10-6 advantage.  Lourdes was able to pull within one, 12-11 and 13-12, but was never able to even the set the rest of the way.
 
Abby Gentile (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield H.S.) led Lourdes offensively with 16 kills while adding 24 digs defensively.  Kortney Ellison (Millbury, Ohio/Lake H.S.) added 14 kills and hit .263 while also picking up 21 digs.  Katey Stakolich (Parma, Ohio/Normandy H.S.) handed out 58 assists while leading an offense that hit .189 for the match.
 
Defensively, Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) registered a match-high 38 digs while Michaela Eisenhauer (Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta H.S.) was involved in eight blocks.
 
Kayla Peters led Concordia (13-14, 9-8 WHAC) with 23 kills while McKenzie Peters tallied 36 digs.
 
Lourdes (10-16, 6-11) remains on the road Monday evening, heading to Rochester Hills, Mich. to face Rochester (Mich.).  First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside of Garth Pleasant Arena in a match that is make-up from an Oct. 6 postponement.