Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: The 2023 regular season comes to a close this week as Lourdes seeks a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference crown.  The Gray Wolves host Bethel (Ind.) on Tuesday evening before a first place showdown with Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, Ind. on Friday night before entertaining the Warriors for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 12th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 223-84 (.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: Lourdes won its only previous meeting against Bethel (Ind.) on Feb. 7, 2023 with a three-set sweep over the Pilots. This will be Bethel's first visit to Sylvania.  The Gray Wolves and Indiana Tech have split six previous meetings 3-3 in a series that began Jan. 25, 2020.  Last season the Warriors swept the season series, winning in three sets in the Ebeid Rec Center and in five sets in Fort Wayne, Ind.  Each team holds a 2-1 series edge on its own home floor.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves had its eight-match WHAC winning streak snapped on Friday evenings with a 24-26, 25-21, 25-20, 28-26 setback at Lawrence Tech.  Vinicius Lopes hit .355 with 16 kills while Jaber Badarne added 14 more.  Sawyer Schafer picked up 14 digs.  On Saturday, Lourdes rebounded with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-22 sweep at Siena Heights.  Badarne put down 18 kills and hit .429 while Joey Bianco had a double-double with 33 assists and 14 digs.

Scouting Bethel (Ind.): The Pilots have won four straight matches after sweeping St. Mary-of-the-Woods on the road in a pair of contests last weekend.  Arthur Barreto leads Bethel with 232 kills while Marcos Henrike is hitting .264.  Erik Malek has handed out 324 assists while Ben Ritzema has tallied 17 service aces.  Defensively, Henrike has picked up a team-high 104 digs while Mustafa Yildiz has been involved in 84 blocks, including 18 of the solo variety.

Scouting Indiana Tech: The Warriors enter the week having won six straight matches after defeating Lawrence Tech on the road in four sets on Saturday.  Indiana Tech hosts Goshen on Tuesday before facing the Gray Wolves over the weekend.  Daynte Stewart lead Indiana Tech with 192 kills this season while swinging at a .251 clip.  Brandon Jones has handed out 523 assists while Ryan Friffel has 16 service aces.  On defense, Joey Hermes has 216 digs while Raekwon Rogers has 62 total blocks.

Thanks Seniors: Lourdes will honor the four members of its senior class on Saturday prior to the match with Indiana Tech.  Darius Passley-Bennett, Tomas Olak, Sawyer Schafer, and Eduardo Ayala will be recognized for their contributions to the program.

WHAC Race: With three matches remaining in the regular season, Lourdes trails Indiana Tech by one match for the top of 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.  The regular season champion will also host the semifinals and championship match of the WHAC tournament.

Facing Ranked Foes: Lourdes has already played six NAIA top-15 opponents this season, posting a 2-4 record in such matches prior to facing nationally-ranked Indiana Tech over the weekend.  The Gray Wolves defeated #5 William Penn and split matches with Saint Xavier this season. 

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 886 career assists, seven shy of Amaury Miranda's (2015) sixth place mark.  In just his first season, George Tsogtbaatar is already ninth in program history with 513 helpers, needing just 20 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 84 sets this season with Jaber Badarne leading the way with 82 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 hitting a higher percentage than their opponents ... Lourdes is a perfect 9-0 on its home floor this year.