Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: The penultimate week of the regular season has arrived for ninth-ranked Lourdes with the Gray Wolves tied atop the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings.  Lourdes travels to Lawrence Tech on Friday and Siena Heights on Saturday looking to remain in the race for the regular season title.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 222-83 (.728) 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: Lourdes holds a 16-0 edge all-time against Lawrence Tech in a series that began Jan. 20, 2016.  The Gray Wolves won this year's first meeting between the two schools in five sets back on Jan. 31 inside the Ebeid Rec Center.  Lourdes is 6-0 against the Blue Devils in matches played in Southfield, Mich.  The Gray Wolves are 28-2 all-time against Siena Heights dating back to Feb. 14, 2012.  Lourdes has won two straight contests against the Saints after winning this season's first meeting in straight sets on Feb. 28 inside the Ebeid Rec Center.  The Gray Wolves are 11-1 all-time against Siena Heights in Adrian, Mich.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves fell to 13th-ranked Saint Xavier for the first time in 21 all-time meetings against The Cougars 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 on Tuesday evening in Chicago, Ill.  Jaber Badarne led the Gray Wolves with eight kills in the setback.  On Friday, Lourdes rallied for a 25-19, 25-27, 18-25, 25-18, 16-14 five-set victory at Aquinas.  Badarne had 22 kills and Eduardo Ayala added 21 more while Sawyer Schafer picked up 19 digs.  The Gray Wolves needed another come-from-behind win on Saturday at Cornerstone, downing the Golden Eagles 21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11.  Ayala had 21 kills and 22 digs while George Tsogtbaatar handed out 59 assists to go along with 13 digs.

Scouting Lawrence Tech: The Blue Devils enter the week having won back-to-back matches on the road at St. Mary-of-the-Woods last weekend, both in straight sets.  Lawrence Tech faces Cornerstone on Wednesday night before hosting the Gray Wolves.  Jeffry Fuhrmann leads Lawrence Tech offensively with 277 kills  and 20 service aces while JT McCarthy is swinging at a .373 clip.  Simon Phillip runs the offense, handing out 705 assists this season.  Defensively, Gustavo Heidrich has picked up a team-high 294 digs while Akram Askoul has been involved in 72 blocks, including 24 of the solo variety.

Scouting Siena Heights: The Saints have dropped eight consecutive matches after dropping a pair of four-set matches last weekend at Mount Vernon Nazarene.  Siena Heights plays Indiana Tech on Friday before hosting the Gray Wolves.  Marc Arsenault leads Siena Heights offensively with 184 kills and is hitting .263 on the season.  Zak Tucker has handed out a team-high 473 assists while Arsenault paces the team with 16 service aces.  Defensively, Tucker also holds the team lead with 118 digs while Bernard Bell has a team-leading 45 blocks this season.

WHAC Race: With five matches remaining in the regular season, Lourdes is tied with Indiana Tech atop the WHAC standings.  The two teams have yet to face one another, but will play a home-and-home series the final weekend of the campaign. The match at Indiana Tech was originally scheduled for March 8, but was moved to Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m. due to the Warriors hosting basketball NAIA championship games.

Going the Distance: Lourdes has played six five-set matches already this season, posting a 5-1 record in such contests.  The Gray Wolves are 10-3 in five-set matches dating back to the beginning of the 2021 season.  This year, Lourdes is undefeated when winning the fourth set. 

Impressive Performances Last Week: After registering just four double-doubles as a team through the first 13 matches, Lourdes had four last weekend alone in Grand Rapids, Mich.  Eduardo Ayala had a pair, beginning with 21 kills and 10 digs at Aquinas.  The junior added 21 more kills the next day at Cornerstone while picking up a season-high 22 digs.  Vinicius Lopes had his second double-double of the year with 13 kills and 14 digs at Cornerstone while George Tsogtbaatar had career highs with 59 assists and 13 digs.

Breaking into the Top-10: Eduardo Ayala has moved into eighth place on Lourdes career kills chart, terminating 567 balls in his two seasons.  He is 52 kills behind Brendan Brown (2016-2019) for seventh on the all-time list.

On the All-Time Assist List: Sawyer Schafer is seventh in program history with 878 career assists, 15 shy of Amaury Miranda's (2015) sixth place mark.  In just his first season, George Tsogtbaatar is already ninth in program history with 480 helpers, needing just 53 more to move into eighth place, matching Oliver Cizmazia's (2013) total.

Moving Up the Career Charts: Eduardo Ayala has moved into fourth place on the career service aces list with 65.  Ayala is just four aces shy of Jo'Lon Clark (2014-2015) for third on the all-time charts.

This and That: Not one Gray Wolf has appeared in all 77 sets this season with Jaber Badarne leading the way with 75 sets played ... Lourdes has now won at least 15 matches and has finished over .500 in all 12 seasons in program history ... the Gray Wolves are 14-0 this season when notching more kills than their opponents ... Lourdes has won nine of its last 10 entering the weekend and seven straight WHAC matches.