GOSHEN, Ind. – The Lourdes men's volleyball team (5-2, 2-1 in WHAC) went 1-1 on their Indiana weekend road trip.

The Gray Wolves lost in a reverse sweep, 2 to 3, to Bethel (5-0, 4-0 in WHAC) on Friday night. They then swept Goshen (4-8, 0-3 in WHAC) for their second conference victory on Saturday afternoon. The battle against the Pilots was a contest of two teams receiving votes in the latest NAIA men's volleyball rankings. The Gray Wolves and Pilots were both undefeated in the conference entering the game and had both beaten some high-quality opponents.

The match definitely lived up to the pregame hype with constant drama and individual performances fueled by high intensity and energy.

1^st Set
The Pilots came out of the gate looking locked in, starting the match on an 8 to 4 run. However, Lourdes took the lead back with a 12 to 5 run of their own. Sophomore outside hitter Felipe Tramontin had three kills during the first set run for the Gray Wolves. Tramontin ended the game with 11 kills and a team-leading 11 digs, his best performance of the season thus far.

Lourdes was up 16 to 13 before Bethel eventually tied the set at 23. A Daniel DeLaRosa kill and Bethel attack error sealed the first set win for Lourdes at 25 to 23.  

2^nd Set
Senior outside hitter Jaber Badarne had a great second set for Lourdes. He contributed four kills in a row in the beginning of the set to put Lourdes up 8 to 6. Badarne had 14 kills total in the game, the least amount in a game for him this season, but still leading the team in the match.

A few three-point Bethel runs put the Pilots up 17 to 15. However, junior outside hitter Jack McMurray had a couple kills for Lourdes to tie the set back up. Later in the set, down 22 to 23, Lourdes capitalized on two Bethel errors and a Tsimafei Lesko kill to win the second set 25 to 23.

3^rd Set
The reverse sweep started with a powerful Bethel third set. The Pilots were up 15 to 11 before a 6 to 2 Lourdes run tied the set at 17 apiece. Bethel went on a 3-0 run and then Lourdes went on a subsequent 4-0 run to take a 21 to 20 lead.

The sweep was in Lourdes' grasp before Bethel had a kill by Ling Pak Him and two attack errors by the Gray Wolves front line, pushing Bethel out in front, 23 to 21. Ling Pak Him had a couple more kills to put the set away for Bethel, 25 to 23.

4^th Set
The fourth set featured a 5-0 Bethel run, a 4-0 Bethel run and three separate 3-0 Bethel runs. The Pilots ran away with the set 25 to 13 to force a deciding fifth set.

5^th Set
Bethel jumped out to a 6 to 2 lead in the deciding set. Jack McMurray and Tsimafei Lesko had a couple kills to eventually cut the Bethel lead to three points. However, a 5 to 1 run by Bethel ended the game with a 15 to 8 Pilots victory in the deciding set.

Match Stats
Lourdes had six more kills than Bethel and four more assists. Bethel had one more service ace, seven more blocks, and three more digs. While Bethel is leading the WHAC standings, 40 minutes east, Goshen is in last place in the conference. Lourdes stayed within themselves and bounced back for a 3-0 sweep over the Leafs.

After the victory, the Gray Wolves head into the next NAIA poll in 2^nd place in the WHAC with a 5-2 overall record and two ranked wins.

1^st Set
Nearly 2,000 people packed Ruth Gunden Gym to watch the Leafs and Gray Wolves, but the pressure didn't get to freshman Tsimafei Lesko. The six-foot-eight Belarusian outside hitter had three kills for Lourdes in the first set, and nine in the match. Lesko also had three service aces in the match to lead all players.

The first set was extremely tight all the way throughout. Neither team went on a 3-0 run until Lourdes did towards the end, giving themselves a 22 to 18 advantage. Ben Palma and Joey Bianco finished the set off with a couple of kills, giving the Gray Wolves a 25 to 19 first set victory.

2^nd Set
Lourdes senior setter Joey Bianco had an incredible second set, contributing an assist in eight of the first 10 Gray Wolves points. Bianco ended the game with 34 assists and 11.33 assists per set. He has tallied 30 or more assists in five out of seven matches played in this season and is 16^th in the country with 9.08 assists per set.

Bianco continued his second set success with back-to-back blocks to push the Lourdes advantage to 12 to 7. He led all players in the match with 4.0 blocks. TAfter Biacno's blocks, an 8 to 5 Gray Wolves run put Lourdes up 20 to 12.

The Leafs had their biggest run of the match with an 8 to 3 stretch, shortening the Lourdes lead to 23 to 20. The Goshen comeback was halted short, however, after back to back errors ended the set with a 25 to 20 Lourdes victory.  

3^rd Set
The final set was the biggest point spread of the match for Lourdes, resulting in a 25 to 17 Gray Wolves victory and a 3-0 sweep.

Jaber Badarne had four kills in the final set and was an overall offensive presence for Lourdes in the match with 15 total kills. Badarne is 12^th in the NAIA with 89 total kills and is leading the NAIA with 5.24 kills per set.

Match Stats
Lourdes played much better overall in the second match, holding advantages over Goshen in kills (+13), service aces (+4), blocks (+2), assists (+14) and digs (+1). Coach Reitz talked post-match on the day-to-day improvement on the road trip.

Coach Reitz's Post-Match Comments
"This was a much better performance against Goshen," Coach Reitz said. "We served aggressively for most of the match, which really helped our defensive efforts. We passed well enough to run our offense at a very strong rate. We will need to continue with this trend going forward."

Next Match
Men's Volleyball has a three-match homestand next week at the Ebeid Rec Center. First, they take on Mount Vernon Nazarene on Feb. 10 at 7pm. Then, they take on Aquinas on Feb. 13 at 7pm. Lastly, they play Cornerstone on Valentine's Day at 2pm.