After falling behind two sets to none on Friday evening, ninth-ranked Lourdes rallied to defeat Aquinas 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-8 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"It was great for us to battle to get this win after dropping the first two sets," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We made a few switches and got some momentum and kept it just enough to push through.  We had some strong performances late when it mattered.
 
Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/colegio Dom Bosco) put down 29 kills in the match, the second highest single match total in program history, and hit .407 on the night to lead the Gray Wolves offensively.  Jaber Badarne (Arrabe, Israel/Hof Hasharon) added 15 kills while Reshawn Allen (Montgomery, Ill./Oswego H.S.) added 11 more while swinging at a .391 clip.  Lourdes hit .310 as a team on the night.
 
The opening set had 17 ties with neither side leading by more than two points the entire way before the Saints scored the final two points.  Aquinas put down 18 kills and hit .429 in the set while Lourdes swung at a .361 clip with 16 kills as the two offenses combined for just six total errors.
 
Trailing 4-1, Lourdes scored seven of the next eight points to take the lead in set two before Aquinas tied it up at 10.  The Saints pulled in front for good with a 3-1 spurt when the stanza was tied at 14 on the way to building a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Gray Wolves trailed 16-13 in the third before a 7-1 run, including back-to-back service aces by Paul Rolland (Guethary, France/Justin Siena [Calif.] H.S.) flipped the lead and extended the match.  Set four had 23 ties and 11 lead changes with Lourdes fighting off a match point at 24-23 before forcing the final set.
 
Leading 6-5 in the fifth, the Gay Wolves scored the nest three points to push the advantage to four and closed with a 5-1 run to remain unbeaten in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play.
 
Gabriel Vianna (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio do Instituto Padre Machado) led the Lourdes defense with 13 digs while Vinicius Lopes (Brusque, Brazil/Colegio Osvaldo Carvalho) added 10 more.  Allen was involved in four of the team's seven blocks.
 
Julian Armendano led Aquinas (4-4, 3-2 WHAC) with 22 kills while Joshua Boothroyd added 19 kills and hit .317 for the night.  The Saints hit .283 as a team but were limited to just four kills in the fifth set while hitting -.043 in the decisive frame.
 
Lourdes (5-3, 3-0) remains home on Saturday evening as the Gray Wolves host Cornerstone.  First serve is set for 6 p.m. inside the Ebeid Rec Center.