Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes looks to remain undefeated in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves travel to Mount Vernon Nazarene.  Lourdes then returns home on Friday to host the Gray Wolf Invitational entertaining both Cardinal Stritch and 12th-ranked Saint Xavier.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 213-81 (.724) 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: The Gray Wolves are 4-0 all-time against Mount Vernon Nazarene dating back to Jan. 26, 2021.  Lourdes swept last year's contest in Mount Vernon, Ohio before posting a four-set victory in the Ebeid Rec Center.  The Gray Wolves are 2-0 all-time in Mount Vernon.  Lourdes holds a 12-6 all-time advantage against Cardinal Stritch in a series that began Jan. 27, 2012.  The Gray Wolves have won the last eight meetings between the two schools after sweeping the Wolves in the Ebeid Rec Center last year.  Lourdes is 4-0 all-time against Cardinal Stritch inside the Ebeid Rec Center.  The Gray Wolves are 19-0 all-time against Saint Xavier going back to Jan. 20, 2012.  Lourdes was a four-set winning in Chicago, Ill. last season and is 3-0 against the Wolves all-time in the Ebeid Rec Center.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves scored a 25-20, 25-18, 25-20 win at Bethel (Ind.) on Tuesday behind nine kills from Eduardo Ayala.  Lourdes then downed Aquinas 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-8 on Friday as Ayala put down 29 kills and Gabriel Vianna had 13 digs.  The weekend concluded with a 25-21,, 25-15, 29-27 victory over Cornerstone on Saturday.  Ayala had 17 kills while Vianna notched 11 digs.

Scouting Mount Vernon Nazarene: The Cougars have won five straight after defeating Lawrence Tech in five sets on Saturday.  Spencer Stanley leads Mount Vernon Nazarene with 97 kills while Landon Ewers is hitting a team-leading .393.  Jaysen Matsumoto has handed out 258 assists while also leading the team with 15 service aces.  Defensively, Daniel Skrzypchak has picked up 75 digs while Ewers has a team-high 25 blocks.

Scouting Cardinal Stritch: The Wolves enter the week having lost two straight after falling in four sets at Saint Ambrose last Tuesday.  Cardinal Stritch hosts Calumet on Tuesday and travels to Trinity Christian on Thursday before facing Lourdes.  Kyle Pietrzak leads the Wolves with 36 kills while Manuel Izquierdo is hitting .431.  Jake Evanish has handed out 111 assists and has a team-high six service aces.  On defense, Travis Shore paces the team with 23 digs while Logan Piktel has eight blocks.

Scouting Saint Xavier: The Cougars head into the week having won six straight matches after defeating Illinois Tech in straight sets on Friday.  Saint Xavier hosts Indiana Tech on Tuesday and Trinity International on Thursday before visiting Lourdes.  Oskar Krzyzak has a team-high 77 kills while Drew Ehlers is hitting .435.  Noah Randall has handed out 188 assists for the Cougars.  Krzyzak and Jan Lopuch share the team leading with 12 aces each.  Defensively, Andrews Velez has 84 digs while Krzyzak has 20 blocks.

Schedule Update: The match against Life scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23 has been cancelled due to Lourdes hosting a men's basketball WHAC tournament game that evening.

Ayala Earns WHAC Honors: Eduardo Ayala has been named the WHAC Attacker of the Week. The junior outside hitter put down 56 kills (5.09/set) in three matches while hitting .368 for the week.  He also recorded 17 digs (1.55/set), had four blocks, and two service aces.  In the win over Aquinas, Ayala put down 29 kills, the second highest output for a single match in program history.

Playing Defense: Gabriel Vianna moved into the team's libero role late in set two against Aquinas before picking up 13 digs over the remainder of the match.  He added 11 more while handing out six assists on Saturday evening in the win over Cornerstone.

Freshmen on the Block: A quartet of rookies are leading the way for the Gray Wolves at the net.  Charlie Harr and Reshawn Allen each has 23 blocks thus far this season to lead Lourdes.  Vinicius Lopes has added 14 rejections while Jaber Badarne has 11 blocks in their rookie year.

Moving Up the Career Charts: Early into his second season at Lourdes, Eduardo Ayala has already moved into fifth place on the career service aces list with 55.  Ayala is just seven aces shy of Eric Ubior (2015-2018) for fourth on the all-time charts and needs just 14 aces to move into the top-three all-time in a Gray Wolf uniform.

This and That: Lourdes has posted winning records in all 11 previous seasons, recording at least 15 victories per year ... Reshawn Allen and Eduardo Ayala are the only Gray Wolves to appear in all 35 sets this season ... the match against Saint Xavier will be the Gray Wolves' fifth already this season against a NAIA top-15 foe (1-3) ... Lourdes was tabbed third in the WHAC preseason poll.