Trailing two sets to one late, Lourdes rallied to force a fifth set then battled from behind in the decisive set to defeat Aquinas 25-19, 25-27, 18-25, 25-18, 16-14 on Friday evening inside the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"This was a gritty performance by the team," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "It wasn't how we drew it up, but the result was what we trained for.  I'm proud of the effort put forth by our team tonight."
 
Lourdes hit a blistering .522 in the opening set and used a 7-1 run midway through to jump in front early in the match.  Aquinas responded in the second set, holding off a late 9-2 run by the Gray Wolves to win in extra points in a set that featured 11 ties and five lead changes.
 
The Saints never trailed in the third in taking the lead in the match before Lourdes battled back in the fourth.  A 10-4 spurt put the Gray Wolves in front for good in forcing the decisive set.  In the fifth, Aquinas led 13-11 and had a match point at 14-13 before Lourdes fought back and closed out the match on back-to-back service aces by Vinicius Lopes (Brusque, Brazil/Colegio Osvaldo Carvalho).
 
Jaber Badarne (Arrabe, Israel/Hof Hasharon) led Lourdes with 22 kills while Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco) added 21 kills whiel hitting .474.  Ayala also had 10 digs.
 
Sawyer Schafer (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) picked up 19 digs while Reshawn Allen (Montgomery, Ill./Oswego H.S.) had five blocks to lead the offense.
 
Julian Armendano led Aquinas (10-9, 9-5 WHAC) with 26 kills and hit .429.
 
Lourdes (14-5, 11-1) returns to the court on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves travel across town to face Cornerstone.  First serve is set for 1 p.m. inside Mol Arena.