Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes University opens its 12th season of men's collegiate volleyball this week with a pair of top-five opponents in Des Moines, Iowa.  The Gray Wolves will face the defending national champion, and top-ranked Grand View in the opener on Thursday before battling fifth-ranked William Penn on Friday.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 207-78 (.726) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  He has earned six conference Coach of the Year honors during his first 11 seasons at Lourdes, including the WHAC Coach of the Year honors in 2019.  He is the only head coach in program history.

Series Notes: Grand View holds a 7-3 all-time advantage against the Gray Wolves dating back to March 3, 2012.  The Vikings have won the last two meetings between the two schools, including a 3-0 sweep on March 4, 2022 in Des Moines, Iowa.  Grand View is 4-1 all-time against Lourdes in Des Moines.  The Gray Wolves will be meeting William Penn for the first time ever in men's volleyball on Friday night.

Wrapping Up 2022: The Gray Wolves finished the 2022 campaign with a 15-7 record overall, and a 10-4 mark in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, tying for second place during the regular season.  Lourdes fell in four sets to Aquinas in the semifinals of the WHAC tournament.

Scouting Grand View: The Vikings won the NAIA national championship in 2022, finishing the season with a 27-2 record overall.  Grand View returns 11 players from last year's squad.  Daniel Galili led the Vikings with 312 kills last season while Daniel Wong hit .426.  Grand View will have a new setter this season.  Erick Villar-Cordero had a team-leading 282 digs in 2022 while Wong registered 96 blocks to lead the defense.

Scouting William Penn: The Statesmen went 23-9 in 2022 and advanced to the NAIA National Championships but did not advance out of pool play.  William Penn returns 14 players from last year's squad.  Ike Papes led the Statesmen with 395 kills one year ago while Landon Krause hit .386.  Matt Helmick is the team's top returning setter with 105 assists in 2022.  Defensively, Carlos Garcia registered 209 digs while Charlie Figy had a team-leading 121 blocks.

Lourdes in Season Openers: The Gray Wolves are 9-2 all-time in their season openers and have won four straight.  Lourdes opened the 2022 season with a sweep on the road at Mount Vernon Nazarene.  Lourdes is 5-0 in season openers that were true road matches, including last year's contest at Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Facing Ranked Opponents: Battling NAIA ranked opponents is becoming common place for the Gray Wolves as Lourdes opens the year with a pair of top-five foes.  All-time, Lourdes is 39-59 against ranked teams and went 2-4 against the NAIA top-15 in 2022.

Returning Award Winner: Eduardo Ayala garnered First Team All-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference honors one year ago.  As a sophomore, Ayala finished second on the team with 288 kills (3.51/set) and hit .266.  He added 165 digs (2.01/set) as a six-rotation outside hitter while registering 21 blocks.  In addition, Ayala led the Gray Wolves with 41 service aces while committing just 40 service errors.

Changing Positions... Again: Sawyer Schafer began his career as an outside hitter for his first two seasons at Lourdes.  Last year he shifted into the starting setter role and has moved into seventh place on the program's all-time assist list with 846 helpers.  This year, Schafer has moved to a defensive specialist role, where he looks to secure the libero jersey.

On the Career Charts: In just one season at Lourdes, Eduardo Ayala has already cracked the top-10 all-time with 41 service aces, a mark he shares with Ian Fields (2017-18, 21) for ninth place.  Ayala is just four aces shy of Henrique Gehrke (2018-2021) for eighth on the all-time charts and needs just nine aces to move into the top-five all-time in a Gray Wolf uniform.

New Faces: Lourdes has added 11 new players to its roster for the upcoming season.  Paul Rolland is a transfer from Georgetown (Ky.) while Ben Palma has joined the program after playing basketball at Lourdes in 2021-2022.  Freshmen Reshawn Allen, Joey Bianco, Trace Bauersfeld, Cauan Reuter, Vinicius Lopes, Anthony Ramirez, Charlie Harr, Andrew Sviben, and Jaber Badarne have all joined the program as well this season.  In addition, George Tsogtbaatar will take to the court for the first time as a Gray Wolf after sitting out last season as a redshirt.

This and That: Lourdes has posted winning records in all 11 previous seasons, recording at least 15 victories per year ... the Gray Wolves open the year looking to avoid matching the longest losing streak in program history (four), having dropped the final three contests in 2022 ... Lourdes is 74-26 all-time in true road matches.