ST. LOUIS -- The Lewis & Clark Pioneers were downed in their opening pair of games to begin the Bear Invitational at the Washington University Field House on Friday.

Following a 28-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20 loss to the Webster Gorloks to open their doubleheader, the Pios forced a fifth set in a back-and-forth match before falling 26-24, 21-25, 25-15, 19-25, 15-10 to the Centre Colonels. Izzy Willis posted 14 kills in the opener, and Ka'anelaokapu'uwai Pakaki-Pias had a career-high 38 digs in the finale, to lead the Pioneers.

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Key Moments | Game 1

Trailing 24-22 in the opening set, three consecutive kills, two of which came from Kelsey Parker, had Lewis & Clark on the doorstep of a first-set win. Instead, Lauren Borik, who finished with a match-high 16 kills, dropped three of the next five points to claim the opener for Webster. In all, there were 18 ties and 11 lead changes in the set.

Willis and Parker combined for seven kills in the Pios five-point, third-set win. Parker brought up four digs, and Michelle McGinn and Kelsie Nakashima added three apiece. Nakashima and Parker each scored an ace.

In the fourth, Annika Traxler had five of her six kills in the fourth set. 

Katie Shimaura started each set as libero and brought up 16 digs, while McGinn finished with 11 digs and 33 assists. 

Key Moments | Game 2

Willis finished with 16 kills, and Parker added 14 more and had three aces, but the Pios lost the deciding set by five to finish without a win on Friday.

Pakaki-Pias set surpassed her all-time best with 38 digs. Debi Chun added nine kills and 22 digs. McGinn shared 44 assists. 

Deeper Look

• Through the first three games of the season, Willis leads the Pios in kills per set (3.67), while Parker has the most total kills (38) in addition to leading the team in aces per set (0.69)
• Traxler's .367 hitting percentage is a team best after she posted a .385 mark in the opener against Webster
• Emma Ehlers, who posted a combined four blocks in Friday's doubleheader, is averaging a team-best 0.64 blocks per set
• Shimaura and Pakaki-Pias are both averaging over 3.60 digs per set with the former totaling 52 and the latter 47
• McGinn's 8.57 assists per set leads the Pios through three games

Looking Ahead

Lewis & Clark competes in two more matches on Saturday. The Pios face Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 10:30 a.m. before taking on host Washington at 12:30 p.m.