Lourdes began Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on a positive note Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves defeated Concordia (Mich.) 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"This is a great way to start conference play," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We served and passed well which allowed us to distribute the ball evenly."
 
Finley Coghlan (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville H.S.) led the way for Lourdes with 14 kills and hit .429 while Abby Gentile (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield H.S.) handed out 16 assists for an offense that hit .202 as a team.
 
The Gray Wolves held Concordia (2-5, 0-1 WHAC) to just .040 hitting on the night, led by Breann June who had 12 kills to go along with 15 digs.  The Cardinals hit .061 or less in all three sets.
 
Trailing 11-10 in the opening set, Lourdes went on a 6-2 run to take the lead for good and scored the final five points of the stanza.  The Gray Wolves never trailed in the second set and closed on a 7-3 run.  The third set was tied at 14 before Lourdes scored the next five points to seize control on the way to completing the sweep.
 
Defensively, Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) had a match-high 18 digs while McKenna Hall (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) added 10 more.  Macey Zinser (Bucyrus, Ohio/Wynford H.S.) was involved in four blocks.
 
Lourdes (4-3, 1-0) will step out of WHAC play on Saturday afternoon to host Georgetown (Ky.).  First serve is set for noon.