Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Three nationally-ranked foes visit Sylvania this week for the Gray Wolf Invitational.  Lourdes, ranked 14th in the latest NAIA top-15 poll, will host 8th-ranked Menlo on Thursday evening before entertaining ninth-ranked William Penn on Friday.  The weekend concludes on Saturday with a match against #11 Georgetown (Ky.).

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his 13th season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 226-89 (.717) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  He has earned six conference Coach of the Year honors during his first 12 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 and Menlo have split their only two previous meetings in a series that began with a Gray Wolf victory in four sets on Jan. 26, 2018 in Elgin, Ill.  The Oaks won the most recent meeting, last season, also in four sets in Georgetown, Ky.  Lourdes won its only previous meeting against William Penn in straight sets on Jan. 27, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa.  The Gray Wolves have split two meetings with Georgetown (Ky.), posting a five-set win in the first contest on Feb. 18, 2022 in the Ebeid Rec Center.  Last season in Georgetown, Ky., the Tigers were five-set winners.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves opened their season last Thursday with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 setback to #6 Grand View.  Eduardo Ayala led Lourdes with 16 kills while Jaber Badarne added 10 more.  On Friday, #13 Jamestown topped the Gray Wolves 25-21, 25-23, 25-23.  Badarne had 14 kills while Ayala added 11 more.  The weekend at the Chicago Tournament concluded on Saturday with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-20 loss to #5 The Master's.  Vinicius Lopes had a team-high seven kills in the setback.

Scouting Menlo: The Oaks are unbeaten on the young season after a 24-26, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-8 victory over UC Merced on the road on Jan. 30.  Konrad Stoklosinski leads Menlo with 32 kills and is hitting .426 this season while William Lawler has handed out 75 assists.  Gabriel Knittel and Connel Kane each have a team-leading five service aces.  Defensively, Wojciech Nowak and Makana Melchor share the team lead with 19 digs while Dylan Cohan has a team-high 11 blocks.

Scouting William Penn: The Statesmen enter the week having won three straight matches after a 25-18, 25-13, 25-20 sweep on the road at Saint Ambrose on Jan. 30.  William Penn travels to Mount Vernon Nazarene on Thursday night before visiting Lourdes.  Landon Krause paced the Statesmen with 56 kills this season and is hitting .417.  Matt Helmick has handed out 150 assists while Devyn Zavala has tallied seven service aces.  Defensively, Helmick also leads the team with 22 digs while Britten Beallis post recorded 20 blocks.

Scouting Georgetown (Ky.): The Tigers enter the weekend invitational having won five straight matches after a 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 sweep at home against Warner last Saturday.  Ryan Gunn has put down a team-high 67 kills and is hitting .349 on the year while Kacper Dobrowolski has handed out 166 assists.  Finn Heineman has tallied 17 service aces.  On defense, CJ Bride has picked up 50 digs for Georgetown while Adam Szewinski has 11 total blocks.

Gray Wolves in Home Openers: Lourdes is 10-2 in home openers during the first 12 seasons of the program's existence.  Last year the Gray Wolves began the home slate with a five-set win over Lawrence Tech for the team's fifth straight home-opening win.  Lourdes is 6-1 in home openers inside the Ebeid Rec Center since the facility opened prior to the 2017 season.

Facing Ranked Opponents: Battling NAIA ranked opponents is becoming common place for the Gray Wolves as Lourdes opens the year with six straight matches against teams in the preseason top-15.  All eight of the Gray Wolves' non-conference opponents this season are currently ranked in the latest poll.  All-time, Lourdes is 42-68 against ranked teams but is 0-3 against the NAIA top-15 thus far in 2024.  The Gray Wolves are currently ranked 14th in the latest poll, with the next ranking coming out on Feb. 21.

On the Career Charts: Eduardo Ayala currently ranks sixth in program history with 682 kills since arriving at Lourdes prior to the 2022 season.  He is also tied for third with Jo'Lon Clark (2014-2015) for third with 69 career service aces as well.  Sawyer Schafer is fifth all-time with 943 career assists and is seventh with 49 aces.  His 464 career digs also rank ninth in program history.

Preseason Poll: Lourdes was predicted to finish in second place in the WHAC according to preseason poll conducted of the league's head coaches.  Indiana Tech was picked to repeat as league champs while Mount Vernon Nazarene was tabbed third in the balloting.

This and That: Lourdes has posted winning records in all 12 previous seasons, recording at least 15 victories per year ... dating back to last season, four consecutive losses match the longest such streak in program history (Jan. 30-31, 2015) ... Reshawn Allen has a team-high six blocks defensively and is hitting a team-best .375 after the first weekend of action.