Lourdes pulled into a tie for first place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings on Friday evening as the Gray Wolves defeated Indiana Tech 20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-23 inside the Schaefer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
"This was a good battle," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We kept at our plan and were able to execute once we found a rhythm.  We will need to play better in our next match."
 
Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco) put down 23 kills and hit .356 on the night while Joey Bianco (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder H.S.) handed out 45 assists for the 13^th-ranked Gray Wolves.
 
Twelfth-ranked Indiana Tech led wire-to-wire in the opening set, using a late 8-2 run to pull away and take the early lead in the match.  Lourdes responded in set two, fighting off a set point to score the final three points of the frame on the way to evening the match.
 
Lourdes hit .300 as a team in the third and never trailed, securing an advantage the Gray Wolves would not relinquish.  An early 7-1 run in the fourth put Lourdes in front for good on the way to completing the win.
 
Vinicius Lopes (Brusque, Brazil/Colegio Osvaldo Carvalho) put down 12 kills and Jaber Badarne (Arrabe, Israel/Hof Hasharon) added 10 more for the Lourdes offense.  Ayala added 12 digs defensively for a double-double while Sawyer Schafer (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) picked up 15 digs.
 
Daynte Stewart led Indiana Tech with 15 kills.
 
Lourdes (18-6, 15-2 WHAC) and Indiana Tech (16-8, 15-2) will battle once against on Saturday afternoon with the winner capturing the WHAC regular season title.  The scene will shift to Sylvania, Ohio and the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center with first serve set for 1 p.m.