Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes heads into the final week of the regular season in search of a league title.  The Gray Wolves are just one match behind Indiana Tech in the standings but travel to face the Warriors on Wednesday before closing out the campaign on Saturday entertaining Aquinas for Senior Night. 

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 11th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 207-75 (.734) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  He has earned six conference Coach of the Year honors during his first nine seasons at Lourdes, including the WHAC Coach of the Year in 2018.  He is the only head coach in program history.

Series Notes: Lourdes is 3-2 all-time against Indiana Tech in a series that began Jan. 25, 2020.  The Warriors won the first meeting of the year between the two schools in straight sets on Feb. 9 in the Ebeid Rec Center.  The series is tied 1-1 in Fort Wayne, Ind.  The Gray Wolves hold a 6-2 series advantage against Aquinas dating back to March 1, 2019.  Lourdes won the first meeting of the year against the Saints in four sets on Feb. 12 in Grand Rapids, Mich..  The Gray Wolves are 3-0 all-time against Aquinas inside the Ebeid Rec Center.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes hit .400 for the match on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves defeated Siena Heights on the road 25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-15.  Jeff Lam had 17 kills and 10 digs, hitting .417 while Harrison McBean added 14 kills and swung at a .632 clip.  On Saturday, the Gray Wolves fought off three match points before defeating Goshen 25-27, 25-18, 25-21, 23-5, 18-16 at home.  Lam had 27 kills and 17 digs while hitting .393 and Eduardo Ayala added 20 kills.

Scouting Indiana Tech: The Warriors have won eight straight matches after downing Cornerstone in five sets on Saturday.  Daynte Stewart leads Indiana Tech with 318 kills and is hitting .304 while Mason has 32 service aces.  Brandon Jones has handed out a team-high 607 assists.  Defensively, Joey Hermes has 290 digs while Raekwon Rogers has 108 blocks, including 29 of the solo variety.

Scouting Aquinas: The Saints enter the week having won eight straight contests after downing Mount Vernon Nazarene in five sets on Saturday.  Aquinas hosts Siena Heights on Wednesday before visiting Lourdes.  Julian Armendano leads Aquinas with 412 kills and a .334 attack percentage while recording 38 service aces.  Matthew Richmond has dished out a team-high 767 assists.  On defense, Kelsey Yogi has recorded 245 digs while Daniel De La Rosa has 98 blocks, including 14 solos.

In Search of a WHAC Title: Lourdes has won or shared both of the first two Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference titles (2019 and 2021) and enters the final week of the regular season in search of their third straight crown.  The Gray Wolves must defeat Indiana Tech on Wednesday in order to have a chance at the championship on Saturday to close out the season.

Lam and Schafer Earn WHAC Honors: Jeff Lam and Sawyer Schafer were named the WHAC Attacker and Setter of the Week respectively for their roles in the Gray Wolves' victories over Siena Heights and Goshen.  Lam put down 44 kills (4.89/set) and hit .402 for the Gray Wolves in the two wins while adding 27 digs (3.00/set) and nine blocks (1.00/set).  Schafer handed out 104 assists (11.56/set) over the nine sets on the week.  He directed an offense that hit .326 while adding 10 kills and 16 digs himself.

Career Record Holder: Jeff Lam broke the school's career kills record earlier this season against Lawrence Tech.  He surpassed Evan Gebert (2017-2020), who tallied 1,179 during his four years at Lourdes.  Lam enters the final week of the season with 1,360 kills over his five seasons wearing the terra cotta and black.  

Lam Also Holds Aces Mark: Jeff Lam set the school record for career aces last season and continues to add to his total this year.  He enters the week with 159 career aces.  The fifth-year senior has 72 more than Evan Gebert (2017-2020), who ranks second on the Gray Wolves' all-time list.

Climbing the Blocks List:  Jeff Lam and Harrison McBean rank fifth and sixth respectively on the Gray Wolves' career blocks list.  Lam enters the week with 174 total rejections while McBean has 157 career blocks.  Julian Rivera (2013-2016) is fourth on the all-time charts with 188 blocks.

Lots of Digs: Guga Heidrich has moved into four place on Lourdes all-time dig list.  The Gray Wolf senior has 688 career digs over his three seasons with the Gray Wolves and is now chasing Eric Ubior (2015-2018), who is in third place all-time with 755 digs.

Moving Up: In his first season in the setter's role, Sawyer Schafer has already climbed into seventh place on the Gray Wolves' assists list with 700.  He is now chasing sixth place which is held by Amaury Miranda (2015) who had 893.

In the National Rankings: Lourdes is sixth as a team among all NAIA schools this season tallying 11.16 digs per set.  Offensively, the Gray Wolves rank seventh nationally putting down 12.60 kills per stanza while the team's 11.99 assists per stanza are fifth best nationally.  Lourdes also ranks 12th recording 1.88 service aces per set.

This and That: The Gray Wolves have yielded just 60 service aces (0.88/set) thus far this season defensively ... Lourdes has won all three five set matches it has played this season and has won five straight dating back to its last five-set loss in 2020.