After being delayed for four months, Lourdes opened its women's volleyball season on Saturday afternoon, dropping a five-set match 25-12, 23-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-12 to Saint Xavier inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"Our biggest issue today was that our consistency was off," head coach Greg Reitz said following the match.  "We were not very efficient which gave them the ability to get some clean looks offensively.  It was good to see our response to a slow first set when we looked nervous."
 
The Gray Wolves led 7-5 in the opening set before the Cougars went on a 19-3 run to seize control. Saint Xavier hit .370 with 14 kills in the opening set.  Lourdes rebounded in the second to pull out a two-point.  Trailing 13-10, the Gray Wolves scored nine of the next 12 points to pull in front victory and even the match.
 
Set three saw Lourdes hit -.103 with nine attack errors while the Cougars put down 14 kills as Saint Xavier took the lead in the match once again.  Lourdes led 18-17 before the visitors scored five consecutive points.  The Gray Wolves never trailed in set four, jumping out to a 6-1 lead.  Saint Xavier had just six kills and hit negative as the two sides headed to a decisive set.
 
Saint Xavier (1-0) jumped on top 5-1 in the final stanza before the Gray Wolves rallied to take a 6-5 lead.  With the set tied at seven, the Cougars scored the next four points and never trailed the rest of the way.
 
McKenna Hall (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) and Kortney Ellison (Millbury, Ohio/Lake H.S.) had 10 kills each to pace the Gray Wolf offense.  Annika Devendorf (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion H.S.) had 16 assists while Yasmin Assis (Salto, Brazil/Antonio Alves Aranha H.S.) dished out 15 more for an offense that hit .058.
 
Defensively, Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) had 16 digs while Allie Hale (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) added 3 more.  Quinn Yondo (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central H.S.) contributed 11 digs while Michaela Eisenhauer (Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta, H.S.) tallied four blocks.
 
Courtney Hunter led Saint Xavier with 14 kills and hit .545 while Emily Stepanek added 22 digs.
 
Lourdes (0-1) will take to the road to open Wolverine-Hoosier Conference play beginning next Friday, Jan. 29.  The Gray Wolves travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to battle Cornerstone.  First serve is set for 8 p.m. inside of Mol Arena.