Lourdes picked a big moment for its first victory of the season on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves rallied to defeat 19^th-ranked Madonna 25-23, 23-25, 13-25, 25-19, 15-12 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"This was a good match to get our first win," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We really had to battle and we did that tonight the entire match as opposed to just in a few sets."
 
Lourdes jumped on top early 6-2 before the Crusaders responded with an 8-2 run of their own to pull in front.  Madonna maintained the lead throughout most of the opening set, holding a 23-20 advantage before the Gray Wolves scored the final five points, including back-to-back aces, to earn the win.
 
In set two, Lourdes again tried to rally late.  Behind 23-19, the Gray Wolves drew even at 23 before back-to-back errors allowed Madonna to even the match.  The third set was all Crusaders.  A 17-3 run allowed Madonna to take control, pulling ahead in the match. The Crusaders hit .650 with 14 kills and just one error in the stanza while Lourdes swung at a -.080 clip with just six kills and eight miscues.
 
The fourth set had 10 ties and six lead changes as the Gray Wolves pulled even in the match.  Trailing 16-15, Lourdes was able to pull back in front and closed the set with five consecutive points to force the decisive fifth set.
 
There were seven ties in the final stanza, the last coming at 10-10 before the Gray Wolves took advantage of three straight attack errors by the Crusaders to pull ahead for good.
 
Madonna (5-3, 3-3 WHAC) outhit Lourdes .217-.129 for the night and held a 59-54 kill advantage.  The Crusaders also had a 71-67 dig edge and outblocked the Gray Wolves 10-6.  Lourdes notched 12 service aces though, while yielding just two defensively.
 
Vanessa Villarreal (Monroe, Mich./Saint Mary Central Catholic H.S.) led Lourdes with 15 kills while McKenna Hall (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) and Kortney Ellison (Millbury, Ohio/Lake H.S.) added 13 each.  Michaela Eisenhauer (Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta H.S.) added nine kills while swinging at a .474 clip.
 
Yasmin Assis (Salto, Brazil/Antonio Alves Aranha) dished out 45 assists and added 14 digs for a double-double while Villarreal posted 14 digs and Ellison added 12 digs to complete their double-doubles as well.  Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) notched 21 digs to lead all players.
 
Jodie Kelly had 15 kills to pace Madonna while Olivia Sweeney recorded 18 digs.
 
Lourdes (1-5, 1-4) will remain home on Friday evening as the Gray Wolves welcome first place, and undefeated, Cornerstone to the Ebeid Rec Center.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.