Lourdes opened the 2021 season on Friday evening, suffering a 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 defeat at the hands of Saint Xavier inside the Shannon Center in Chicago, Ill.
 
"We looked a bit nervous from the start and they took advantage of it," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "They played a very aggressive match both from the service line and offensively and we were unable to match it.  We will look to regroup for tomorrow and put together a better team performance."
 
Saint Xavier (1-1) led from the outset, scoring four of the match's first five points.  A 14-4 run in the opening set proved to be the difference, as the Cougars limited Lourdes to just six kills in the stanza compared with 17 for Saint Xavier.
 
The Cougars took a quick 6-2 lead in set two and never trailed in building a two-set lead.  Lourdes was limited to -.029 hitting in the set.
 
Lourdes took its first lead in the third set, 4-2, before the hosts responded with eight consecutive points to seize control.  The Gray Wolves were able to pull back within two, 12-10, before an 8-1 run put the match away.
 
Abby Gentile (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield H.S.) led Lourdes with four kills as the Gray Wolves managed just 20 kills on the night and hit .051.  Katey Stakolich (Parma, Ohio/Normandy H.S.) handed out 14 assists.
 
Defensively, Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) led the Gray Wolves with 13 digs while Stakolich had two blocks.
 
Nadia Atton hit .393 with 13 kills while Jessica Belseth also put down 13 kills to pace the Cougars.  Atton and Avanna Martinez each had a team-high 12 digs.
 
Lourdes (0-1) will head to Palos Heights, Ill. on Saturday for a pair of matches.  The Gray Wolves face Judson at 1 p.m. EDT before battling host Trinity Christian at 3 p.m. EDT inside Devos Gymnasium.