After a pair of three-set losses Thursday, Lawrence High senior setter Laurel Bird thought her volleyball team played well. It just didn’t show up as wins on the scoreboard.

In two matches decided by razor-thin margins, the Lions fell to Olathe North (25-27, 25-21, 26-24) and Gardner-Edgerton (25-23, 10-25, 25-23) in a triangular at LHS. It was the Lions’ first two losses in Sunflower League play this season.

“Obviously it’s disappointing when you play three sets to 25 and they are all super close, and you’re all working really hard, and you don’t come out with the win,” Bird said. “I thought our team did a good job of fighting every point. This is something we’ll learn from. This will definitely make us better in the long run.”

The Lions (9-4, ranked No. 5 in Class 6A) were dominant in their second set victory against Gardner-Edgerton. Attackers Michaela Cordova, Baylee Unruh, Sammy Williams and Katelyn Mask landed key shots, while Bird, Lauren Maceli and Hannah Stewart recorded service aces.

But in the third set, the Lions couldn’t hold off a late run from Gardner-Edgerton (7-4, ranked No. 8), watching the Trailblazers land four straight kills to win the match.

“Those are tough losses,” Lawrence coach Stephanie Scarbrough said. “They worked hard. Both sides of the court were playing great. It’s tough to come out on the wrong end of it.”

After their loss to the Gardner-Edgerton, the Lions handed blue flowers to all of the Trailblazer players while offering hugs and words of support. Gardner-Edgerton senior Haylei Bell, a volleyball player, died in a car crash before school on Aug. 29.

“We sent them a card earlier in the year,” Bird said, “but we wanted to do something more special, sentimental when they came to our school to show we were thinking of them.”

During the first set against Olathe North, the Lions fought back from a 23-20 deficit with two key kills from the 5-foot-7 Cordova, who had one shot slide off of the top of the net and over for a kill.

But similar to the loss to Gardner-Edgerton, the Lions couldn’t hold off a late surge from the Eagles. Olathe North ended the match with the final four points, which included two kills and a service ace.

Despite the two losses, the Lions saw some positives all over the court. Bird recorded 59 assists to a variety of hitters including Williams (16 kills), Unruh (15), Cordova (14) and junior Brooke Wroten (14).

“We definitely have a lot of versatile hitters,” Bird said. “I feel comfortable setting anyone, any place on the net. I think it’s special to me to have that trust with every single one of my hitters.”

Defensively, the Lions were led by Maceli, the team’s libero who was diving all over the court, Stewart and Cordova. Williams recorded six blocks.

The Lions will travel to the Olathe West triangular on Sept. 21.