Lourdes opened up the home portion of its 2022 men's volleyball season on Friday, defeating Cornerstone 25-22, 25-13, 25-19 and Rio Grande 25-11, 25-9, 25-15 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
The fifth-ranked Gray Wolves hit .325 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference contest against Cornerstone while limiting the Golden Eagles to just a .108 clip for the afternoon.
 
"This was a good way to start the home schedule," head coach Greg Reitz said following the first match.  "We were able to distribute the offense to run efficiently.  We need to be better in the serve and pass game to have the kind of success we want to have."
 
Lourdes committed just two attack errors in the opening set while hitting .385 before limiting the Golden Eagles to a -.034 clip in set two.  The Gray Wolves jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the middle stanza and never looked back.  In set three, Lourdes led 14-5 on the way to the sweep behind a .400 hitting mark.
 
Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) put down a match-high 16 kills and hit .452 in the opener while Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco H.S.) added eight kills.  Sawyer Schafer (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) handed out 23 assists. 
 
Defensively, Guga Heidrich (Braco do Norte, Brazil/Colegio Unificado) registered a match-high 10 digs.
 
David Galanes led Cornerstone (3-6, 0-3 WHAC) with six kills while Alex Hekman had eight digs.
 
Against Rio Grande, Lourdes registered 15 service aces, second most in a match in program history, and hit .510, the third best mark ever for a Gray Wolf team in recording the sweep in just 59 minutes.
 
"We came out and took care of business, executing well on our own home court," Reitz said after the nightcap.
 
Leading 12-10 in the opening set, Elijah Fleming (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook H.S.) spearheaded a 10-0 run from the service line as the Gray Wolves limited Rio Grande to -.188 hitting in the first set.  The Gray Wolves hit .588 themselves with 11 kills on just 17 swings.
 
In set two, Lourdes scored the first five points of the set as well as the final eight as the Gray Wolves held the Red Storm to just three kills for the second consecutive set.  A 15-4 run midway through the third set then propelled Lourdes to the sweep.
 
Lam hit .550 with 12 kills in the nightcap as Lourdes committed just six total attack errors as a team.  Schafer had 24 assists while Ayala recorded five aces.
 
Tyler Miller-Bross had four of Rio Grande's (0-3) 10 kills for the match, as the Red Storm finished the night hitting -.152.
 
Lourdes (3-0, 2-0) remains at home on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves entertain Siena Heights.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside the Ebeid Rec Center.