Lourdes opened the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference slate on Wednesday evening, dropping a 25-20, 25-16, 28-30, 25-18 decision to Indiana Tech inside the Schaefer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
"We battled at times tonight, but made too many errors to give ourselves the chance for the win," head coach Greg Reitz said after the match.  "We will need to get better before our next competition on Friday."
 
Lourdes jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set and maintained a 10-6 edge when Indiana Tech scored the next four points.  Another 4-0 run by the Warriors gave the hosts a 19-15 lead, an advantage they would not relinquish.
 
With Indiana Tech (4-5, 1-0 WHAC) leading 11-6 in set two, Katey Stakolich (Parma, Ohio/Normandy H.S.) served up a pair of aces as part of a 7-0 Lourdes run, putting the Gray Wolves in front 13-11.  The Warriors responded with 10 of the next 11 points though to take control and build a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set had nine ties and six lead changes before Lourdes was able to extend the match.  The Gray Wolves held an 18-12 advantage, and still led 24-19, when six straight points swung the set into Indiana Tech's favor.  Lourdes fought off two match points before winning the stanza 30-28.
 
A 7-2 run early in the fourth put the Warriors in front for good and Lourdes was never able to rally to force a fifth set.  Indiana Tech had 16 kills in the set and hit .389 to close the match.
 
Abby Gentile (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield H.S.) led Lourdes with 11 kills while Macey Zinser (Bucyrus, Ohio/Wynford H.S.) and Vanessa Villarreal (Monroe, Mich./Saint Mary Central Catholic H.S.) added eight each.  The Gray Wolves hit .131 for the match with Stakolich handing out a team-high 21 assists.
 
Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) had a team-high 22 digs while Villarreal added 10 more.  Madison Smith (Woodburn, Ind./Woodlan H.S.) was involved in three blocks.
 
Noelle VanOort led Indiana Tech with 19 kills and hit .368 while Jacey Blush tallied 25 digs.
 
Lourdes (0-4, 0-1) returns to action on Friday, traveling to Richmond, Ind. for a pair of matches.  The Gray Wolves face Indiana-Southeast at 3 p.m. before battling host Indiana East at 7 p.m. at Lingle Court.