Ninth-ranked Lourdes dropped its first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference match of the season on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 inside of Ariel Arena in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
 
"We didn't play well enough to win this one and they did," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We will get back to work tomorrow to get better at the things we didn't do well."
 
The Gray Wolves never trailed in the opening set, jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead.  The Cougars pulled back to within two, 18-16 before Lourdes stopped the comeback attempt on the way to taking set one.
 
Lourdes took an early 7-3 lead in the second as well before six straight points by the Cougars started an 8-1 run to take a three-point lead.  The Gray Wolves retook the lead 13-12 after four consecutive points before Mount Vernon Nazarene went on another 8-2 spurt to pull back in front for good on the way to evening the match.
 
A 15-14 Gray Wolf lead was erased by a 6-1 run by the Cougars as the hosts jumped in front for good in the frame to build a 2-1 edge overall.  Mount Vernon Nazarene scored the opening three points of the fourth set before Lourdes scored six of the next seven points.  The lead see-sawed back and forth with the Gray Wolves opening up an 18-15 lead.  The Cougars responded with the next three points before eventually taking the lead 22-21.  Lourdes tied the set at 22 and 23 before Mount Vernon Nazarene scored the final two points to earn the win.
 
Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco) led Lourdes with 15 kills while Vinicius Lopes (Brusque, Brazil/Colegio Osvaldo Carvalho) added 10 more.  The Gray Wolves hit just .175 for the night though.
 
Defensively, Ayala had a team-high 11 digs while Reshawn Allen (Montgomery, Ill./Oswego H.S.) registered six blocks.
 
Spencer Stanley led Mount Vernon Nazarene (7-1, 6-1 WHAC) with 16 kills while Daniel Daley added 15 more as the Cougars hit .233 for the week.  Jaysen Matsumoto handed out 45 assists while picking up 12 digs.
 
Lourdes (6-4, 4-1) returns home for a pair of matches on Friday as the Gray Wolves host Cardinal Stritch at 2 p.m. and 12^th-ranked Saint Xavier at 7 p.m. inside the Russell J. Ebied Recreation Center.