SYLVANIA, Ohio--Lawrence Tech recorded a postseason school-record 15 team blocks en route to a thrilling five-set victory Friday evening over top-seeded Lourdes to advance to its first appearance in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Championship. The set scores were 25-22, 28-26, 30-32, 24-26,15-12 as the Blue Devils earned their program-record ninth victory in a row to set up a tile match with No. 3 seed Indiana Tech at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Ebeid Recreation Center on Lourdes' campus. (The Warriors defeated No. 2 seed Cornerstone, 3-0, in tonight's other conference semifinal.)

Juniors Brendon Down and JT McCarthy combined for the final block in the decisive set of the 2 hour and 39 minute event to clinch the historic victory over the nation's No. 13-ranked team as the Gray Wolves fall to 16-11 on the season. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils are receiving votes in the NAIA Top-15 in the final rankings, compiling 65 points for 17th if the coaches' poll was extrapolated.

Down finished with team highs of 16 kills and seven total blocks to go along with 15 digs. McCarthy matched him with seven blocks, which led all student-athletes. Freshman Gustavo Machado added 15 kills and 12 digs, while sophomore Nathaniel Brownlee picked up 40 assists, 11 digs and five blocks.

Eduardo Ayala led Lourdes with a match-high 27 kills and completed a double-double with 12 digs. Jaber Badarne chipped in 15 kills, five service aces, 12 digs and four blocks, while Vinicius Lopes contributed 12 kills and 11 digs. Joey Bianco dished 50 assists for match-high honors.

The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the match after hitting .304 in the opening set. Lawrence Tech struggled a little offensively in the second set, but the defense stepped up to hold the Gray Wolves to a minus-.045 attack percentage. The 28-26 set win was fueled by rallying from a 17-9 deficit. Trailing 23-20, LTU fought back to take a 24-23 advantage on three Lourdes attack errors in a row. Lawrence Tech saved a set point at 26-25 and scored the last three points while capitalizing on three more Gray Wolves errors.

Lourdes, however, evened the match by taking the next two sets in very close fashion, 32-30 and 26-24. 

In the fifth set, LTU committed just two attack errors and took the lead for good at 6-5 on a Lourdes service error. The visitors expanded their advantage to 10-7 on a Down kill that resulted in a timeout for the home team. After the Gray Wolves got to within 10-9, LTU held multiple-point advantages to get the win.

The Blue Devils trailed statistically in kills (69-53), aces (7-5) and points (88.5-73), but a season-high 76 digs led by graduate student Matheus Andrade's match-best 20 digs, to go along with the 15 blocks, gave LTU the defensive effort they needed to get past the Gray Wolves.