The 2013 Lourdes University men's volleyball team is set to take the court for year two, looking to build off of the success that the Gray Wolves had in their inaugural 2012 campaign.
 
Lourdes went 16-10 overall one year ago and 6-6 in the Mid-American Men's Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference (MAMVIC) East Division, finishing in fourth place.  Head coach Greg Reitz returns for his second season at the helm of the Gray Wolves after earning MAMVIC East Coach of the Year accolades in the program's inaugural season.  Lourdes garnered four All-MAMVIC East honors as a team as well.
 
They Gray Wolves return seven players this season from last year's roster which finished the year ranked 10^th in the nation in the MAMVIC poll.
 
Outside hitter Nick DiMarco earned First Team All-MAMVIC East accolades in his first season at Lourdes after leading the Gray Wolves with 342 kills, hitting .307 on the season.  The MAMVIC East Newcomer of the Year also shared the team lead in service aces while posting 51 total blocks.  DiMarco and Zander Epps are the two lone seniors on this year's squad.  Epps earned Honorable Mention All-MAMVIC East honors as a middle blocker.  He hit .339 on the season and finished second on the team with 52 rejections one year ago.
 
The only two juniors on the roster for Lourdes in 2012 are transfers who will be playing their first season with the Gray Wolves and both play the outside position.  Chris Lockwood arrives on campus from Palomar Community College while Trevor Lund went to Irvine Valley College last season where he was a Second Team All-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference selection. 
 
Lourdes returns a talented group of sophomores who earned a great deal of college experience last season in their first year of collegiate volleyball.  Jeremy Wood was a Second Team All-MAMVIC East selection who finished second on the team with 213 kills during his rookie season.  Frank Craig also earned All-MAMVIC East Honorable Mention accolades after hitting a team-leading .399 as a freshman.  He also had a team-high 86 blocks playing both the outside and in the middle.
 
Also among this year's sophomores are a pair of setters who both saw their first collegiate action last year.  Steve Barcus and Trey Fanfulik.  Ian Davis also saw the floor in 22 contests for the Gray Wolves as an outside hitter and is back for his second season at Lourdes.  The final sophomore on this year's roster is Brad Miller, who transferred to the school from Mount Saint Joseph where he played as a freshman.  He will be able to play both the libero and outside hitting positions for the Gray Wolves.
 
Four freshmen round out the Gray Wolves roster heading into 2013.  Julian Rivera will compete for time on the outside and in the middle after arriving from the San Juan Volleyball Club in Puerto Rico.  Bryan Downs is a rookie libero who earned Honorable Mention All-State accolades in Ohio as a high school senior.  Oliver Cizmazia and Garrett Jones are the latest additions to the Lourdes lineup, arriving at the school to start the spring semester.  Cizmazia is a setter from Slovakia who was a member of the country's Junior National team in 2012.  Jones arrives from Las Vegas, Nev. Where he earned All-Sunrise Conference honors at Las Vegas High School.
 
The Gray Wolves open the 2013 season on Jan. 18 hosting Robert Morris (Ill.) before entertaining Cardinal Stritch one day later in MAMVIC East action.  The Gray Wolves will travel to NCAA Division I IPFW as part of a rigorous non-conference schedule, and will play 14 straight matches away from home from the middle of February through the middle of March.  Lourdes will then close the regular season with three straight home contests, concluding March 26 against Siena Heights.
 
Lourdes looks to carry over the momentum from a successful inaugural campaign into the second year of the program, hoping to climb the ladder in the MAMVIC East.  With the returning experience mixing with the incoming talent, 2013 looks to be an exciting season of Gray Wolves volleyball.