Lawrence High senior Caroline Dykes (13) hits past Shawnee Heights blockers Mikala Wells (22) and Lydia Ostenson (5) during their volleyball match in the Joan L. Wells Invitational Tournament hosted by LHS on Saturday.

After losing five of its last six matches entering Saturday, Lawrence High’s volleyball team rebounded with a pair of victories at the Joan Wells Invitational at LHS.

The Lions (8-19) earned sixth place in the tournament, finishing with a 2-3 record.

In pool play, the Lions beat Dodge City (25-23, 26-24) and lost to Blue Valley West (25-14, 25-9) and Shawnee Heights (25-8, 25-11). LHS topped Shawnee Mission Northwest in the consolation semifinals (25-19, 25-23) and lost to Blue Valley in the fifth-place match (25-15, 25-13).

“We were pleased,” LHS coach Stephanie Magnuson said. “We played well together as a team — better than we have in a while, so that was something that we were looking forward to, and they did a good job with it.”

In the two LHS victories, senior outside hitter/middle blocker Caroline Dykes combined for a team-best 17 kills, drilling spikes past blockers and defensive specialists. Sophomore Olivia Morgan added nine kills in the wins.

During the victory over SM Northwest, the Lions trailed 18-15 before scoring three straight points, including back-to-back aces by senior libero Nicole Owens. Once the Lions tied the score, they forced the Cougars into attacking errors.

“We finished really well, but we had a slow start,” said sophomore setter Laurel Bird, who had 58 assists. “Our energy was lacking, and that’s something that we’ve been working on all season. … I think it’s hard for a lot of teams to stay consistent with their energy, but we’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season.”

Throughout the day, the Lions used a balanced offensive attack, with six players recording at least eight kills: Dykes, Morgan, Nesreen Iskandrani, Kyleigh Severa, Lexi Anglin and E’lease Stafford.

Iskandrani, who finished with 16 kills and only four attacking errors, said an early-morning pep talk from her coach was the key to her strong play. In the final two matches, Iskandrani provided an early spark with kills in the first few points of each set.

“This morning, we watched a bunch of tape, and (Magnuson) read a bunch of quotes off to us, so that pumped me up,” Iskandrani said.

However, the Lions struggled to stop big runs of points by their opponents in their losses. LHS lost six sets by 10 points or more.

“It was tough,” Bird said. “We always have really hard teams in this tournament, but it always makes us better.”

Magnuson added: “This is a good tournament, with a lot of good competition. At this stage of our season, we need to be playing good teams all of the time. This tournament really affords us that opportunity.”

The Lions will travel to the SM East triangular at 5 p.m. Thursday.