FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 11-ranked Lourdes men's volleyball team (19-5, 13-3 in WHAC) lost 23-25, 22-25, 14-25 to (RV) Indiana Tech (19-8, 13-3 in WHAC) on the road on Tuesday evening.

The loss was only the third time Lourdes has been swept this season. The others both came against ranked opponents, William Penn and St. Xavier (Ill.). While Indiana Tech isn't ranked, they are receiving votes and are just on the outside looking in for the final rankings poll.

Meanwhile, with back-to-back losses to Bethel and Indiana Tech, Lourdes has dropped from 7^th to 11^th in the national poll. More importantly, for the first time this season, the Gray Wolves have dropped from 2^nd to 3^rd in the WHAC standings with two games remaining on the schedule.

Although Indiana Tech and Lourdes have the same conference record, the Warriors win the tiebreaker because they've won two more sets head-to-head against the Gray Wolves. This scenario means that Lourdes need to either win out and hope Indiana Tech loses one of their final two games, or hope that Indiana Tech loses both of their games and that Lourdes can win at least one. Either way, Lourdes needs to make up one game on Indiana Tech over this final weekend if they want to get a bye and clinch the No. 2 seed in the WHAC Tournament.

Lourdes' final schedule is against last place Rochester Christian on Friday and then against 4^th-place Lawrence Tech on Saturday. Both games are at home. On the other hand, Indiana Tech plays Goshen and conference-leading Bethel, both are on the road. While Lourdes' remaining schedule seems slightly easier than Indiana Tech's, it will still likely come down to the final match of the year for tournament seeding.

The only team that has clinched their tournament seeding position is Bethel. The Pilots have clinched home court advantage in the playoffs and their first WHAC regular season title in program history. Lawrence Tech will likely remain the 4^th seed, but they mathematically still have a chance at the 2^nd and 3^rd seeds. Cornerstone, Mount Vernon Nazarene and Goshen all have a chance to get the 5^th and 6^th seeds in the tournament.

1^st Set: L, 23-25
The first set started off fairly strong for the Gray Wolves as the team took a 10-6 lead. The run was capped off by a nice Jaber Badarne kill and service ace. The senior outside hitter once again led the team in kills with 13 in the match and had two service aces.

The two teams traded points in the middle of the set as Lourdes still led by four points late with a 15-11 lead. However, Indiana Tech shifted the set's momentum with a 5-2 run to cut the Lourdes lead to one point. Two Warriors' kills and three Lourdes errors accounted for the quick change.

Lourdes didn't give into the pressure, however, and put up three more kills to remain in the lead. Jaber Badarne's second ace of the set put Lourdes up 20-18. Indiana Tech's Logan Gieseke effectively stole the set from Lourdes with three straight kills to tie the game at 22 apiece. A couple solid serves by Indiana Tech's Kristian Kold put the first set away in favor of the Warriors. Despite not leading the set until the final three points, the Warriors took set one 25-23.   

2^nd Set: L, 22-25
The second set was eerily similar to the first with Lourdes jumping out to a 6-2 lead with a massive five-point run. Senior setter Joey Bianco had back-to-back set assists and then three solid serves in the run. Bianco averaged a little over eight assists per set in the loss and also led the team in blocks.

Despite the fast start, Indiana Tech once again quickly shifted momentum with strong serving, passing, and finishing at the net. The Warriors went on a dominant 14-7 run to take a 16-13 lead and cause Lourdes to use their first timeout of the set.
Lourdes played better out of the timeout, stringing together consecutive kills to cut the lead to one point at 19-20. However, a few attack and service errors down the stretch caused Lourdes to not be able to overcome the deficit; losing the set by three points.

3^rd Set: L, 14-25
Unlike the first two sets, Lourdes got off to a slow start in the final set. Indiana Tech went on a blazing 10-4 run to open the scoring. However, also unlike the first two sets, Lourdes was unable to flip the tide in their favor. Lourdes was unable to score more than two points in a row and Indiana Tech went on a six point run to end the match with a sweep.

Stats
Indiana Tech led Lourdes in kills (+7) and assists (+6). They also led 11-1 in blocks, which was their biggest advantage in the match. The two squads tied with three service aces a piece and Lourdes held a +4 advantage in digs over Indiana Tech.

Next Up
Lourdes has two crucial matches against RCU and Lawrence Tech this weekend at home to end off the season. These two matches will be the last regular season sporting events held at the Ebeid Rec Center.