SYLVANIA, Ohio – Hope International men's volleyball opened the 2026 season in chilly Ohio, falling in four sets to host Lourdes in the opener of the Gray Wolves Invitational on Thursday.
Set scores were 25-18, 25-21, 13-25, 25-17.
Senior Jah'mi Jeter led the Royals with 10 kills on .381 hitting. Sean Seaman contributed eight kills in 11 errorless swings for a .727 hitting percentage.
Ethan Davis and Sam D'Ambrosio split setting duties with 16 and 12 assists, respectively.
The Royals hit .163 (35-20-92) for the match, although they were solid in sets one (.400) and three (.450). The Gray Wolves hit .195 (50-27-118) overall, including a .500 percentage in set one.
Felipe Tramontin led Lourdes with 15 kills.
HIU led once in set one at 4-3, but Lourdes countered with an 8-3 run to take an 11-7 lead. The Royals stayed within four points until the Gray Wolves extended their advantage to 16-11 and 18-13.
Tramontin had seven kills in set one as Lourdes took the 25-18 victory.
HIU used an early 5-1 run to grab a 6-3 lead in set two. The Gray Wolves responded with a 6-1 run to go up 9-7. The score was tied at 16-16 when Lourdes scored three straight points – two on Joey Bianco kills and another on a Trace Bauersfield and Tramontin assisted block – prompting an HIU timeout.
HIU fought back to trim the deficit to one point on three separate occasions – the last at 22-21 – but Lourdes scored the final three points for the 25-21 triumph.
In set three, the Royals jumped out to a 12-7 lead, utilizing a 6-1 run that included kills from Seaman and D'Ambrosio. The Gray Wolves closed the gap to 15-11, but a 6-1 HIU run opened up a 21-12 lead. HIU rattled off the final four points for the 25-13 victory, punctuated by a Hugo Gonzalez Gutierrez solo block to finish the set.
Both teams fought through nine ties to arrive at a 12-12 stalemate in set four. A Jeter kill and Lourdes attack error gave HIU a 14-12 lead, but the home team notched five straight points to go up 17-12 and force a Royals timeout. HIU scored two straight points out of the timeout to whittle the deficit to one, but Lourdes answered with three in a row to expand its lead to 20-16.
The Gray Wolves concluded the set on a 5-0 run to earn the 25-17 win. Four of the last five Lourdes points were due to HIU errors.
HIU continues play at the Lourdes Gray Wolves Invitational on Friday, meeting Georgetown College for a noon (PT) first serve.
