Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes wraps up its season-opening nine-match road trip this week with three Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference contests.  The Gray Wolves will travel to Siena Heights on Wednesday evening before heading to Michigan-Dearborn on Friday.  The week, and the road trip, conclude with a match at Madonna on Saturday.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season on the Lourdes bench, Greg Reitz has a 205-150 (.577) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  In his 14th season overall as a women's head coach, Reitz has a 225-185 (.549) career mark.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history and was named WHAC Coach of the Year in 2015.

Series Notes: Lourdes leads the series with Siena Heights 14-10 dating back to Sept. 10, 2010.  Last season (this past spring), the two schools split a pair of matches, with each team winning in four sets on their own home court.  The Saints hold a 7-4 advantage in Adrian, Mich.  The Gray Wolves are 14-2 all-time against Michigan-Dearborn in a series that began Aug. 28, 2010.  Lourdes has won the last 12 meetings between the two schools.  The teams have not met since 2019 when the Gray Wolves swept both contests.  The Gray Wolves hold a 7-2 edge in Dearborn, Mich.  Madonna holds an 11-10 edge against Lourdes going back to Oct. 8, 2010.  The two sides defended their home court in the spring, with the Gray Wolves winning in five sets on Feb. 24, 2021 in the Ebeid Rec Center and the Crusaders posting a four-set triumph in Livonia, Mich. on March 13.  Madonna holds a 6-4 series edge in Livonia.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes opened WHAC play on Wednesday (Sept. 8), dropping a 25-20, 25-16, 28-30, 25-18 decision at Indiana Tech.  Abby Gentile led Lourdes with 11 kills while Alli Plasencio had 22 digs.  On Friday (Sept. 10), the Gray Wolves rallied from two sets down to defeat Indiana Southeast 16-25, 11-25, 26-24, 25-14, 15-9 for their first win of the year.  Macey Zinser had 12 kills while Plasencio recorded 18 digs.  Later on Friday, Lourdes defeated host Indiana East in five sets 25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 14-25, 15-10.  Kortney Ellison put down 16 kills while Plasencio added 22 digs.

Scouting Siena Heights: The Saints have won back-to-back matches after sweeping Northwestern Ohio last Wednesday (Sept. 8) on the road.  Autumn Anderson leads the team with 64 kills while Janel Ruhlman is hitting .252 with 12 aces.  Aubrey Bates has handed out a team-high 228 assists.  Defensively, Payton Osborne has 100 digs while Olivia Norman has recorded 27 blocks.

Scouting Michigan-Dearborn: The Wolverines have dropped seven straight matches after being swept by Dordt and William Penn last Saturday (Sept. 11).  Michigan-Dearborn faces Rochester (Mich.) and Grace Christian on Wednesday before hosting Lourdes.  

Scouting Madonna: The Crusaders enter the week having won nine straight matches after downing Michigan-Dearborn on the road last Wednesday (Sept. 8).  Madonna faces Lawrence Tech and Siena Heights before hosting Lourdes.  Jodie Kelly leads the Crusaders with 153 kills and is hitting .227 while adding 13 service aces.  Jordyn Dawson has handed out a team-high 218 assists.  Defensively, Kelly has a team-high 140 digs while Emily Stewart has recorded 40 blocks.

Devendorf Earns All-Tournament Honors: Annika Devendorf was named to the IU East Invitational All-Tournament Team for her efforts last weekend.  In the two matches on Friday, Devendorf handed out 72 assists and recorded 12 digs in the victories over Indiana Southeast and Indiana East.

Going the Distance: Lourdes has already won more five-set matches this season than the Gray Wolves did in all of 2020 (spring 2021).  The Gray Wolves went 1-4 in such matches last year while posting a 2-0 mark to start 2021.  

Plasencio All Over the Record Books: Alli Plasencio enters the week ranked third in program history with 1,082 career digs.  She is 523 behind Angelica Dippold (2016-2019) for second all-time.  Plasencio also ranks eighth all-time with 75 service aces, needing one more to match Michi Jiminez (2012-2015) for seventh on the career charts.  Plasencio ranks seventh in school history having appeared in 294 sets all-time, 19 behind Ali Mass' (2010-2013) sixth place total.  Plasencio is eighth with 80 matches played, five in back of Shannon Fischer (2015-2018) for seventh all-time at Lourdes.

Eisenhauer in the Record Books: Michaela Eisenhauer ranks seventh all-time at Lourdes with 101 career blocks, needing 10 more to match Genessee Tate (2016-2017) for sixth all-time.  

This and That: Lourdes' next WHAC victory will be its 100th in league play (99-63) ... Alli Plasencio is the only Gray Wolf to play all 24 sets this season.