In a battle to decide the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference regular season title on Saturday afternoon, 12^th-ranked Indiana Tech rallied after dropping the first two sets to defeat 13^th-ranked Lourdes 21-25, 27-29, 25-21, 25-15, 15-11 on Senior Day for the Gray Wolves inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"This is a tough match to lose," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We put ourselves in a position to finish off the match, but we didn't earn it.  Hats off to Indiana Tech, they battled back to earn it.  We have to get better this week as we prepare for the conference tournament."
 
Lourdes started strong, forcing the Warriors to a -.028 hitting percentage in the opening set.  Trailing 8-6, the Gray Wolves went on a 7-2 run to take the lead.  Indiana Tech would tie the stanza at 15, but the Gray Wolves recorded the next four points to pull in front for good on the way to the early lead in the match.
 
In set two, there were 20 ties and 11 lead changes.  Lourdes fought off a pair of set points and the Warriors fended off four against them before the Gray Wolves finally took a 2-0 lead in the match with the final three points of the set.
 
Five consecutive points early in the third set gave Indiana Tech an 8-3 lead.  Lourdes was not able to get any closer than three the rest of the way as the Warriors extended the match.  In the fourth, Indiana Tech swung at a .429 clip with 14 kills and just two errors, taking the lead early and gradually increasing it on the way to the decisive fifth set.
 
The Gray Wolves built an early 5-3 lead in the fifth before six straight points by Indiana Tech put the visitors in front for good.  Lourdes pulled within three late, but was unable to get any closer, dropping its only home match of the season in 11 outings.
 
Eduardo Ayala (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco) put down a match-high 22 kills while adding 13 digs for a double-double for the Gray Wolves.  Vinicius Lopes (Brusque, Brazil/Colegio Osvaldo Carvalho) added 12 kills while Joey Bianco (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder H.S.) handed out 37 assists for the offense that hit just .112 on the afternoon.
 
Defensively, Sawyer Schafer (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville H.S.) picked up 15 digs and Bianco had 10 more for his double-double.  Charlie Harr (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard H.S.) was involved in seven of the team's 10 blocks.
 
Ryan Griffel led Indiana Tech (17-7, 16-2 WHAC) with 13 kills and hit .333 while Brandon Jones handed out 42 assists, leading an offense that hit .184 for the day.  Joey Hermes had a match-high 22 digs while Raekwon Rogers recorded eight of the team's 18 blocks.
 
Prior to the contest, Lourdes honored its four seniors: Ayala, Schafer, Tomas Olak (Rowville, Australia/Mazenod College), and Darius Passley-Bennett (Wimbledon, England/Petchey Academy).
 
Lourdes (18-7, 15-3) will have a bye in the opening round of the WHAC tournament before heading to Fort Wayne, Ind. on Friday evening for the semifinals.  The official league pairings will be released later this weekend.