In a battle of NAIA top-15 programs, fifth-ranked Lourdes came away with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 victory over No. 13 Goshen on Friday evening inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center to remain undefeated on the young season.
 
"Our serve and defense won us this match," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We hit efficient enough, but we really played sound defense."
 
The Gray Wolves tallied 63 digs in the match, setting a new school record for a three-set contest.  Lourdes also recorded eight service aces, five by Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.), who tied the school's career ace mark with 87, matching Evan Gebert's (2017-2020) total.  Lam also had a match-high 14 kills and 16 digs for a double-double while hitting .355.
 
In the opening set, Lourdes pulled away with a late 7-3 run, holding Goshen to just four kills in the stanza.  The Maple Leafs never led in set two but had a late 7-2 spurt of their own to close within two late in the set.  Set three was all Gray Wolves, as the hosts raced out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back on the way to completing the sweep.
 
Lourdes hit .221 for the match with Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco) adding 11 kills.  His brother, Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco) ran the offense, handing out 38 assists.
 
Guga Heidirch (Braco do Norte, Brazil/Colegio Unificado) tallied 14 digs while Sawyer Schafer (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) added 11 digs.
 
Lucas Sauder led Goshen (3-2, 1-1 WHAC) with 11 kills while Alexander Rabadzhiev and Brayton Yoder had 12 digs each.  The Maple Leafs hit just .075 for the night.
 
Lourdes (4-0, 3-0) will face another ranked foe on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. to battle 10^th-ranked Indiana Tech.  First serve is set for 8 p.m. inside the Schaefer Center.