Lourdes won the first two sets before the University of Northwestern Ohio staged a rally, but the Gray Wolves withstood a pair or Racers' match points in the fifth set to earn a 25-17, 25-22, 15-25, 24-26, 19-17 victory on Senior Night Wednesday inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"The team came together to earn this win," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We performed well at times, and at other times not so much.  We played well enough and made just enough plays late to earn the win."
 
The Gray Wolves started quickly, taking the lead 5-4 and never looking back in the opening set.  A quick 4-0 spurt, including back-to-back service aces by Kylee McBride (Peoria, Ariz./Mountain Ridge H.S.) allowed Lourdes to extend its lead to 18-12 on the way to taking the early advantage in the match.
 
Lourdes never trailed in set two, while putting down 14 kills, the team's most in a set all night.  The Gray Wolves led 17-11 before withstanding a late Northwestern Ohio run to build a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
The Gray Wolves scored the first four points of set three before the Racers answered with an 11-2 run to take control of the stanza and extend the match.  In the fourth, there were nine ties and three lead changes with Lourdes fighting off one set point before Northwestern Ohio forced the decisive final set.
 
There were 12 ties and seven lead changes in the fifth, with Northwestern Ohio leading 14-11.  The Gray Wolves fought off five match points, before scoring the final three points to close the regular season with a victory.
 
McKenna Hall (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) led Lourdes with 20 kills and 17 digs while Macey Zinser (Bucyrus, Ohio/Wynford H.S.) added 13 more kills.  Katey Stakolich (Parma, Ohio/Normandy H.S.) ran the offense, handing out 38 assists for a team that hit .105 on the night but also picked up 20 digs defensively.
 
Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) registered a team-high 24 digs while McBride also had 15.  Cammy Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Ontario H.S.) recorded five blocks.
 
Elli Roetgerman led Northwestern Ohio (13-18, 6-13 WHAC) with 16 kills while Aubree Ricketts had a match-high 33 digs for the Racers.
 
Lourdes (13-16, 9-11) will now have to wait until the conclusion of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday to determine its opponent for next Wednesday's tournament quarterfinal.