Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes looks to atone for last week's lost to Mount Vernon Nazarene on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves welcome the Cougars to the Ebeid Rec Center.  Lourdes then faces Goshen for a pair of matches on Friday and Saturday in a home-and-home series that begins in the Hoosier State before heading to Sylvania to wrap up the week.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 214-82 (.723) 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 4-1 all-time against Mount Vernon Nazarene dating back to Jan. 26, 2021.  The Cougars picked up their first win ever against the Gray Wolves last Tuesday (Feb. 14) with a four-set triumph in Mount Vernon, Ohio.  Lourdes leads the series 2-0 in matches played inside the Ebeid Rec Center.  Lourdes holds a 7-1 edge against Goshen in a series that began Jan. 22, 2019.  The Gray Wolves have won five straight meetings between the two schools after notching a pair of five-set triumphs against the Maple Leafs in 2022.  Lourdes is 3-0 against the Maple Leafs in Goshen, Ind. and 4-1 versus Goshen inside the Ebeid Rec Center.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves dropped their first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference match of the season on Tuesday, falling 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 at Mount Vernon Nazarene.  Eduardo Ayala led Lourdes with 15 kills and 11 digs while Vinicius Lopes added 10 kills.  The Gray Wolves bounced back on Friday evening with a five-set win, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13, at home against 12th-ranked Saint Xavier.  Jaber Badarne had a team-high 22 kills and Ayala added 21 more for Lourdes.  Sawyer Schafer led the defense with 13 digs while George Tsogtbaatar had 10 digs to go along with 49 assists.

Scouting Mount Vernon Nazarene: The Cougars have won two straight after defeating Campbellsville in five sets on Saturday.  Spencer Stanley leads Mount Vernon Nazarene with 178 kills while Landon Ewers is hitting a team-leading .335.  Jaysen Matsumoto has handed out 442 assists while also sharing the team lead with Ewers with 18 service aces each.  Defensively, Daniel Skrzypchak has picked up 113 digs while Ewers has a team-high 48 blocks, including nine solos.

Scouting Goshen: The Maple Leafs snapped a four-match losing skid on Saturday afternoon with a three-set sweep at Aquinas.  Goshen will host Saint Xavier on Wednesday before facing the Gray Wolves in their weekend series.  Ishmail Bangura leads Goshen with 134 kills and is hitting .229 on the season.  He also leads the team with 13 service aces.  Wyatt Bollinger has handed out 263 assists.  Defensively, Pablo Sanchez has picked up 57 digs while Andy Bennett has a team-high 33 blocks, including five of the solo variety.

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.  That contest will not be made up, nor will the Cardinal Stritch contest from Feb. 17 that was cancelled due to a snowstorm in Wisconsin.

Tsogtbaatar Notches First Double-Double: George Tsogtbaatar recorded his first collegiate double-double on Friday in the victory over Saint Xavier.  The redshirt-freshman handed out 49 assists while adding 10 digs to his stat line.  Both represent career highs for Tsogtbaatar.

Leading the Offense: Eduardo Ayala has a team-high 173 kills thus far this season, averaging nearly four per set (3.93) while swinging at a .254 clip.  Jaber Badarne has added 124 kills (2.88/set) as part of an offense hitting .223 on the year.

Splitting Time at Libero: Lourdes has been designating a pair of liberos of late.  Sawyer Schafer leads the team with 86 digs this year (2.61/set) while Gabriel Vianna has added 41 more (1.78/set) while also being used in a serving role.  

Freshmen on the Block: A quartet of rookies are leading the way for the Gray Wolves at the net.  Freshman Reshawn Allen has recorded 31 blocks already this year while Charlie Harr has added 26 more, including a team-high seven solo rejections.  Jaber Badarne has tallied 17 blocks while Vinicius Lopes has added 14 rejections in their rookie year.

Hoffman Makes an Appearance: Mitch Hoffman saw action for the first time this season, appearing in three sets against Saint Xavier on Friday.  He had one kill on two swings.  All 18 Gray Wolves that are currently eligible have now seen action in at least one set this season.

Moving Up the Career Charts: Nearing the midway point of 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: Reshawn Allen and Eduardo Ayala are the only Gray Wolves to appear in all 44 sets this season ... the win against Saint Xavier was the Gray Wolves' second already this season against a NAIA top-15 foe (2-3) ... Lourdes was tabbed third in the WHAC preseason poll ... the Goshen match on Saturday begins a four-match homestand for Lourdes.