GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 8-ranked Lourdes men's volleyball team (17-3, 11-1 in WHAC) swept Cornerstone (7-12, 6-6 in WHAC), 25-15, 25-21, 25-17 on the road on Friday evening.

Lourdes has now won 10 sets in a row and has three consecutive sweeps. The Gray Wolves' winning streak has also been extended to five games. Lourdes is still barely in second place as first-place Bethel (Ind.) remains 10-0 in conference play.

1^st Set
Lourdes came out of the gate red hot with a 4-1 lead off of strong serving by senior outside hitter Jaber Badarne. The Arrabe, Israel native had an ace on the opening point and led the team with three crucial service aces in the match.

Despite the fast start, Cornerstone took advantage of a few set and attack errors to tie the game at seven apiece. However, Lourdes took the lead right back on a 14-6 run of their own to make it a 21-13 Gray Wolves lead.

During the run, Jaber Badarne and Felipe Tramontin each placed multiple kills. Badarne led the team in the match with 21 kills, averaging an impressive seven per set. Tramontin was second on the team with seven kills total in the match.

Lourdes closed the first set off with a small 4-2 run to take the 1-0 set advantage. Overall, Badarne's strong play combined with Cornerstone making a lot of attack errors in the set, helped the Gray Wolves come away with the victory.

2^nd Set
Cornerstone fought back in the second set with a lot more precision in the serving and passing game. Lourdes struggled at times with their passing and also their ability to finish points. The result was a much better start for Cornerstone as the Golden Eagles led 10-6 early on in the set.

Lourdes' offense regrouped and had multiple three-point runs in the middle of the set. However, Cornerstone's offense was on point and were still in the lead at 18-16.

The Gray Wolves took their first lead of the set at 19-18 after two Cornerstone errors and a Jaber Badarne kill from a great pass by Joey Bianco. The senior setter once again led all players with 34 set assists in the match and nearly 12 per set.

Cornerstone later tied the set at 20 apiece but their momentum had been slowed down. Two more timely Jaber Badarne kills and another attack error by the Golden Eagles put Lourdes up 23-21. The sophomore duo of Juan Diego Vargas Mendoza and Felipe Tramontin ended the set victory off with back-to-back kills.

3^rd Set
The final set of the sweep was when Lourdes completely hit their offensive stride. The Gray Wolves got off to a 6-1 start highlighted by another ace and kill by Jaber Badarne. Cornerstone struggled with errors early on, with several attack errors and service errors coming in the first 10 points.

Lourdes effectively sealed the deal after Juan Diego Vargas Mendoza had a six-point run behind the service line to make it 12-2. Mendoza forced four errors by Cornerstone and had an ace in the run.

Cornerstone eventually cut the lead down to six with the score at 18-12. However, Lourdes traded points the rest of the way as they won 25-17 to close out the sweep.

Stats
While Cornerstone's net blocking was a strong suit for the Golden Eagles (7-5 Cornerstone advantage), Lourdes held the statistical advantage in every other category. The Gray Wolves led 39 to 27 in kills, four to two in service aces, 37 to 26 in set assists, and 36 to 31 in digs.

Coach Reitz' Post-Match Comments
"We came out in set one and played well," Coach Reitz said. "We were able to pressure them with our serve and control our passes, so our offense was very efficient. The second set was a little off for us, but we recovered in the third and earned the sweep."

Next Up
Cornerstone continues their road trip this afternoon at 2pm against Aquinas.