CREVE COEUR, Mo. – At the Carl & Delores Petty SRC, the Lindsey Wilson volleyball played two hard-fought contests to open play in the Missouri Baptist University Classic.

On the day, the Blue Raiders hit .177, led by the likes of Elisa Burzio with 23 total kills, and Madison Bidwell and Savanah Pippin with 18 and 16, respectively.

Also on the offensive side of the ball, Monika Szwarc and Luiza Goncalves contributed 41 and 35 assists, apiece, while Natalie Ackermann's 22 digs paced Lindsey Wilson defensively.

Match One | Lindsey Wilson 2, Saint Xavier 3

Pippin and Burzio became just the second different pair of Lindsey Wilson teammates this season to both record 10 or more kills in a match, but the Cougars of Saint Xavier (Ill.) had just enough gas, in the end, to fend off a furious Blue Raider rally in five sets.

Lindsey Wilson's leading attackers of the match each turned in career highs, with Pippin dominating the middle for 16 kills and five blocks, and Burzio flying high on the outside for 14 successful spikes. The latter of the two also chipped in nine digs for a near-double-double.

Despite Saint Xavier only outkilling the Blue Raiders 29-28 over the first sets, the Cougars took advantage of Lindsey Wilson's 13 hitting errors to win both frames by a combined eight points.

In the middle set, however, the Blue Raiders found a spark to ignite their comeback and opened up a 6-0 lead with three kills from Pippin and an Ackermann service aces in the mix as well. Saint Xavier managed to piece together a few points soon after, though it was never within the realm of contending with Lindsey Wilson's lead. A 12-2 run to end the set got the Blue Raiders on the scoreboard and cut the Cougars' match lead in half.

The fourth featured back-and-forth action similar to the first two sets, and the score eventually knotted at 16-16. A Saint Xavier miscue then sent Lindsey Wilson off on a 4-1 swing, and the Blue Raiders never surrendered their lead to a 25-20 set victory to tie the match at 2-2.

Unfortunately, in the fifth set, the Cougars built themselves breathing room early on a 7-1 run, and though Lindsey Wilson did get back on track to draw level at 13-13, Saint Xavier got the final word with back-to-back points to seal the match.

Match Two | Lindsey Wilson 1, No. 8 Park 3

The eighth-ranked Pirates (Mo.) utilized a strong start in the first set, including 17 kills to create a two-set cushion that they ultimately rode on to a four-set win.

Park went on stretches of 15-5 and 12-4 in the first and second frames, stifling the Blue Raiders and forcing them to play from behind. Then, in the third set, successful attacks by Bidwell and Elizabeth Moore helped propel Lindsey Wilson to a quick 5-2 advantage. That lead swiftly ballooned to 7-3 behind kills from Burzio and Goncalves, but the Pirates stuck around and tied the score at 9-9. From there, the two sides traded jabs in the late stages of the frame until Park found itself with its first match-point opportunity, up 23-21.

The chance for the Pirates did not last long as a kill by Conceicao followed by a Goncalves ace turned the tables in favor of Lindsey Wilson. The Blue Raiders could not capitalize on their first set-point but did not miss on the next when Bella Christofaro delivered a blast through a wall of Pirate defenders to secure the set for Lindsey Wilson, 27-25.

In the fourth frame, the score remained neck-and-neck through the initial stages, but Park found a rhythm out of a timeout and pulled away to take the match after four.

Lindsey Wilson returns to Missouri Baptist on Saturday morning for another doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. CST with St. Ambrose and concluding at 4 p.m. CST with the seventh-ranked Spartans.