Lourdes extended its winning streak to five consecutive matches on Thursday afternoon with a 25-13, 24-26, 25-19, 25-16 victory over Mount Vernon Nazarene inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"We were able to pass and dig well enough to hit efficiently, which is what won us this match," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.
 
The Gray Wolves put down 59 kills while hitting .417 on the afternoon.  Sawyer Schafer (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) handed out 45 assists while directing the offense.
 
Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) registered a match-high 20 kills and hit .471 while Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco) hit at the same clip with 18 kills.
 
Lourdes scored six of the match's first seven points to race out to an early lead and used another five consecutive points to take the opening set.  The Gray Wolves hit .440 in the stanza with just one attack error while forcing eight mistakes from the Cougars and a -.111 hitting mark.
 
The Gray Wolves appeared ready to run away with set two as well, jumping out to a 10-2 lead.  Mount Vernon Nazarene responded with nine of the next 11 points to pull within one.  Lourdes maintained a lead late when three consecutive points by the Cougars put the visitors in front 22-20.  The Gray Wolves would fight off three set points before eventually falling.  Mount Vernon Nazarene had 18 kills in the stanza.
 
There were nine ties and five lead changes in the third set before Lourdes used a 4-0 burst to take the lead for good, 18-15.  The Gray Wolves closed the set on an 11-4 run after hitting .429 in the frame.
 
In the fourth, Lourdes hit .500 with 17 kills in closing out the match.  The Gray Wolves closed the match with the final four points to open the homestand victorious.
 
Mitch Hoffman (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) led the defense with seven blocks as Lourdes had 12 on the afternoon.  Guga Heidrich (Braco do Norte, Brazil/Colegio Unificado) tallied a match-high 21 digs.
 
Caden Donaldson led Mount Vernon Nazarene (6-8, 3-6 WHAC) with 15 kills while Daniel Skrzypchak had 10 digs.
 
Lourdes (9-2,7-2) will return to the court on Friday afternoon for a non-conference match against Cardinal Stritch.  First serve is set for 3 p.m. inside the Ebeid Rec Center.