Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes plays its final two tune-ups before Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play begins as the Gray Wolves head to Richmond, Ind. for the IU East Invitational.  Lourdes will battle the host Red Wolves on Friday night before facing Great Lakes Christian on Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 13th season on the Lourdes bench, Greg Reitz has a 217-166 (.567) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  In his 15th season overall as a women's head coach, Reitz has a 237-201 (.541) career mark.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history and was named WHAC Coach of the Year in 2015.

Series Notes: Indiana East holds a 4-1 series advantage against Lourdes dating back to Sept. 11, 2010.  The Gray Wolves won the last meeting between the two schools in five sets on Sept. 10, 2021 in Richmond, Ind., where the series is tie 1-1.  Lourdes will be meeting Great Lakes Christian on the volleyball court for the first time on Saturday.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes opened the season splitting four matches in the Gray Wolf Invitational last weekend.  The Gray Wolves swept Bluefield to begin the year on Friday (Aug. 26) behind 16 kills and .351 hitting from Kylee McBride.  Lourdes added a three-set sweep of Grace to conclude Friday as McKenna Hall notched 12 kills and hit .333.  Saturday began with a three-set loss to Saint Xavier.  Hall had nine kills and 11 digs in the setback.  The weekend concluded as the Gray Wolves were swept by Mount Vernon Nazarene Saturday afternoon.  Hall had 12 kills and hit .367.

Scouting Indiana East: The Red Wolves split four matches last weekend at the Knight Invitational hosted by Marian after winning all four contests opening weekend at the Onset Invitational hosted by Saint Francis (Ind.).  Jessica Swimm leads Indiana East with 92 kills while Teah Barrett Matthews is hitting .260.  Reece Shirley has handed out 132 assists while Sammei Fulkerson-Bird has a team-high 11 service aces.  Defensively, Ella Bickel has recorded 117 digs while Brooke Lepper has been involved in 19 blocks.  

Scouting Great Lakes Christian: The Crusaders are still looking for their first victory of the season after falling to Welch and Moody Bible last Saturday.  Sofia Marcolongo leads Great Lakes Christian with 45 kills and is hitting .164 while Alissa Nugent has handed out 108 assists.  MarKayla Mayhoe has a team-high nine services.  On defense, Fabiola Gonzalez has notched a team-high 77 digs while Laura Ganong has three blocks.

Plasencio Earns WHAC Honors: Alli Plasencio was named the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Defender of the Week after averaging 5.58 digs per set for Lourdes during the Gray Wolf Invitational.  The fifth-year senior had 67 total digs, including a season-high 22 against Saint Xavier.

Hall has Solid Week: McKenna Hall hit .265 while averaging 3.42 kills per set over the opening four matches.  The senior had 12 kills against both Grace and Mount Vernon Nazarene.  She also tallied 3.00 digs per set, including 11 versus Saint Xavier.

Serving Up Aces: Lourdes registered 22 service aces, an average of 1.83 per set, over the team's first four matches.  Alli Plasencio led the way with six while Katey Stakolich recorded five more.  Alexis Walker had four aces for the Gray Wolves as well.

Winning at the Net: The Gray Wolves outblocked their opposition 22-11 in the first four contests.  Cammy Smith was involved in 11 blocks herself while Macey Zinser registered six rejections.

Gray Wolf Debuts: A trio of players made their debuts for Lourdes over the weekend.  Quinn Olding made her collegiate debut for the Gray Wolves in the season opener against Bluefield.  Emma Coffey stepped onto the court for the first time versus Grace.  Mackenzie Kemenah took to the court for the first time as a freshman versus Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Plasencio All Over the Record Books: During the opening weekend, Alli Plasencio moved into second place all-time in program history with 1,644 career digs.  She trails school record-holder Michi Jimenez's (2012-2015) 2,143 digs by 499.  Plasencio also ranks third all-time with 102 service aces, needing two more to match Stef Comte (2013-2016) for second on the career charts.  Plasencio ranks fourth in school history having appeared in 393 sets all-time, one behind Angelica Dippold's (2016-2019) third place total.  Plasencio is fifth with 108 matches played, six appearances shy of Dippold for fourth all-time at Lourdes.

Also in the Record Books: Kylee McBride has moved into ninth all-time at Lourdes with 562 career kills, one behind Ave Stout (2015-2016) for eighth place.  Cammy Smith has climbed into fifth place on the blocks list with 140, trailing Michaela Eisenhauer (2019-2021) by three for fourth place.  Katey Stakolich is seventh in school history with 809 career assists, needing 83 more to match Jami Markus (2017-2018) for sixth place.

This and That: The Gray Wolves enter the weekend 217-166 all-time in program history ... Lourdes is 72-68 all-time in road matches and 44-52 in neutral site contests ... six of the Gray Wolves' last seven contests have been decided in straight sets, including five straight matches.