SYLVANIA, Ohio - The No. 11 Lourdes men's volleyball team (11-2, 8-1 WHAC) swept Goshen (6-12, 1-6) in straight sets, 25-15, 25-16, 25-11, in a dominant home victory inside the Russell J. Ebeid Rec Center on Tuesday evening.

The Gray Wolves continued their strong season form with the convincing win, extending their win streak over Goshen to 13 matches and improving to 15-1 all-time in the series. Lourdes controlled the match from start to finish, holding Goshen to a negative hitting percentage (-.043), while hitting (.247) as a team.

With the victory, Lourdes remains near the top of the WHAC standings and continues building momentum as the season progresses. The Gray Wolves have now won seven matches in a row and will most likely end up in the top 10 of the NAIA national rankings this week. 

1st Set
Lourdes set the tone immediately in the opening set, defeating Goshen 25-15. After an early competitive stretch that saw the teams even at 8-8, the Gray Wolves closed the set on a commanding 17-7 run.

Lourdes limited Goshen to just six kills while forcing 11 attack errors in the set. The Gray Wolves recorded four service aces and committed just four attacking errors themselves. Junior outside hitter Jack McMurray led the way offensively in the first set with four kills.

Lourdes' defensive pressure and serving consistency proved to be the difference as they forced Goshen out of their game and controlled tempo throughout the set.

2nd Set
The second set followed a similar script to the first as Lourdes continued its aggressive play, earning a 25-16 victory.

Freshman outside hitter Tsimafei Lesko provided a spark offensively with four kills in the set. Lourdes once again kept errors low, finishing with just three attack errors compared to the nine by Goshen.

The Gray Wolves increased their serving pressure, tallying five service aces in the set while holding a 10-6 advantage in kills. Lourdes maintained control from the midpoint of the set onward to take a 2-0 match lead.

3rd Set
Lourdes completed the sweep in emphatic fashion, winning the third set 25-11.

The Gray Wolves dominated statistically in the final frame, recording 10 kills to Goshen's six while holding a .400 advantage in hitting percentage. Lourdes also added three service aces and capitalized on eight Goshen attack errors.

Sophomore outside hitter Felipe Tramontin contributed two kills in the closing set as Lourdes sealed the straight-set victory with balanced offensive production and strong defensive play.

Stats
Lourdes finished the match with advantages in every statistical category:
• Kills: 28-24
• Attack Errors: 9-28
• Hitting Percentage: .247 to -.043
• Assists: 26-22
• Service Aces: 9-2
• Digs: 38-35
• Total Blocks: 9-5
• Reception Errors: 2-9

Individually, Senior middle blocker Ben Palma anchored the net defensively with four solo blocks and a career-high seven total blocks in the match. Palma now has 16 blocks total in the last three matches. He commented postmatch on his career day and the upcoming home match against Indiana Tech.

"As a team, we just focused on implementing what we've done in practice," Palma said. "I was able to use my good footwork and show a strong defensive presence up there at the net. Indiana Tech's definitely a good opponent and they've been one of our rivals over the last couple of years. We just got to stay consistent. We know if we do what we can do that we can beat anybody."

Tsimafei Lesko led Lourdes with nine kills on 20 attempts. Jack McMurray added seven kills, while Felipe Tramontin recorded six kills on 22 attempts. The team tied a season-high with nine service aces across five different Gray Wolves servers.

Coach Reitz's Post-Match Comments
"Serving's been a focus for sure," Coach Reitz said. "We know foundationally that if we're trying to win a match, we have to win the serve and pass battle. Getting them out of position with our serving helps our defense out a ton, that's been a focus of ours since day one. Tonight was probably our best serving night of the season so that helped us put together a pretty good performance."

Next Up
The Gray Wolves will step out of conference play for their next matchup as they travel to Illinois to take on Olivet Nazarene University. The non-conference contest will test Lourdes on the road as they look to carry their momentum into another competitive matchup away from home.