Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Winners of four straight, Lourdes concludes its four-match homestand this week with three contests.  The Gray Wolves entertain Siena Heights on Tuesday to close out the month of February before opening March with back-to-back contests with St. Mary-of-the-Woods on Friday and Saturday.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 217-82 (.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: The Gray Wolves are 27-2 all-time against Siena Heights dating back to Feb. 14, 2012.  The two schools split a pair of meetings last season with the Saints winning in the Ebeid Rec Center in straight sets before Lourdes earned a four-set triumph in Adrian, Mich.  Lourdes is 5-1 all-time against Siena Heights in the Ebeid Rec Center.  The Gray Wolves and St. Mary-of-the-Woods will be meeting for the first time ever this weekend.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves atoned for their lone WHAC loss of the season on Tuesday evening with a 28-30, 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 victory at home against Mount Vernon Nazarene.  Jaber Badarne put down 21 kills while Eduardo Ayala added 15 more.  Vinicius Lopes had a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs while Gabriel Vianna had a match-high 20 digs.  On Friday, the Gray Wolves defeated Goshen 26-28, 25-23, 25-15, 29-27 on the road.  Ayala and Badarne had 17 kills each while Lopes added 16 more.  Vianna had 18 digs.  Lourdes completed the weekend sweep of Goshen at home on Saturday 27-25, 25-21, 25-21.  Ayala had 19 kills while Vianna notched 12 digs in the win.

Scouting Siena Heights: The Saints have dropped four consecutive matches after being swept on the road last Tuesday at Aquinas.  Marc Arsenault leads Siena Heights offensively with 140 kills and is hitting .300 on the season.  Zak Tucker has handed out a team-high 351 assists while Arsenault paces the team with 13 service aces.  Defensively, Joudiel Poveymirow paces the team with 82 digs while Bernard Bell has a team-leading 32 blocks this year.

Scouting St. Mary-of-the-Woods: The Pomeroys enter the week having dropped back-to-back matches last weekend on the road at Mount Vernon Nazarene.  St. Mary-of-the-Woods hosts Wabash on Tuesday before visiting Lourdes.  Mark Zmojdzin leads the Pomeroys with 171 kills this season and is hitting a team-leading .198.  Ethan Martins has handed out 168 assists this year while Simon Vega has registered 18 service aces.  Defensively, Zon Mendiola leads the team with 132 digs while Yammiel Martinez has been involved in 36 blocks, including nine of the solo variety.

Schedule Update: The match at Indiana Tech that was scheduled for next Wednesday, March 8, has been moved to Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m.  The Warriors are hosting opening round games in the NAIA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships next Tuesday and Wednesday, forcing the change in dates.

Duo Earn WHAC Honors: George Tsogtbaatar was named the WHAC Setter of the Week and Gabriel Vianna garnered WHAC Defender of the Week accolades for their efforts last week.  Tsogtbaatar averaged 12.0 assists and 1.91 digs per set over three matches.  He had 48 assists in the win against Mount Vernon Nazarene.  Vianna tallied 4.55 digs per set and had just two reception errors in 65 attempts in the three wins.  He recorded a career-high 20 digs against Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Lopes Notches First Double-Double: Vinicius Lopes recorded his first career double-double in the win over Mount Vernon Nazarene.  The freshman had 11 kills and 15 digs, marking a new career high.  He is the fourth Gray Wolf to register a double-double this year.

Leading the Offense: Eduardo Ayala has a team-high 224 kills thus far this season, averaging more than four per set (4.07) while swinging at a .273 clip.  Jaber Badarne has added 169 kills (3.13/set) as part of an offense hitting .227 on the year.

Freshmen on the Block: A quartet of rookies are leading the way for the Gray Wolves at the net.  Freshman Reshawn Allen has recorded 39 blocks already this year while Charlie Harr has added 26 more, including a team-high seven solo rejections.  Jaber Badarne has tallied 22 blocks while Vinicius Lopes has added 17 rejections in their rookie year.

Moving Up the Career Charts: At the midway point of his second season at Lourdes, Eduardo Ayala has already moved into fifth place on the career service aces list with 56.  Ayala is just six aces shy of Eric Ubior (2015-2018) for fourth on the all-time charts and needs just 13 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 55 sets this season ... Lourdes was tabbed third in the WHAC preseason poll ... following the weekend, the Gray Wolves will take to the road for five straight contests ... Lourdes has not been swept in a match since March 4, 2022 at #4 Grand View.