photo by: Photo courtesy of Kansas Athletics

Kansas senior Jenny Mosser serves the ball during the Jayhawks' five-set loss to No. 1 Texas on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021 at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

The Kansas volleyball team took the first two sets from top-ranked Texas on Friday night, but it was the Longhorns who won the next three to take the match — 18-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19 and 15-13.

A crowd of 1,622 saw Kansas (11-5 overall, 3-2 Big 12) push UT (12-3, 3-0) to its first five-set match of the season.

“I’m proud of them, but disappointed. You can be both,” KU coach Ray Bechard said after the match. … I think that was a really good version of us and who we are and how we compete.”

Texas edged Kansas in the fifth set on the strength of a 4-0 run that broke a 3-all tie and included two aces and two kills.

Down 9-5, Kansas went on a 3-0 run with back-to-back kills from sophomore Caroline Crawford and freshman London Davis to make the score 9-8. The set was tied three times after that, including 13-13 following a kill from Jenny Mosser. Texas closed out the match on a kill and a KU hitting error.

“What you saw was Texas responded really, really well,” Bechard said. “In the third, fourth and fifth sets, it was like pulling teeth to earn a point because they would side-out at a very high level.”

For the night, Texas edged Kansas in hitting efficiency, .312-.287 and hit .324 or better in the final three sets. KU won the first two sets by hitting .429 in the first and .275 in the second. KU out-blocked UT 14-7 for the match.

Freshman Caroline Bien led the KU offense, posting career-highs in kills (21) and attacks (53). Mosser and Crawford each recorded 12 kills, while senior Rachel Langs also added 10 kills.

KU went with combo setters as sophomore Elise McGhie led the Jayhawks with 30 assists, while freshman Camryn Turner had 25. Senior Lacey Angello led KU with 18 digs, while Mosser was next with 15.

Kansas and Texas will conclude their 2021 series at 3 p.m. Sunday at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena. The match will be televised on ESPNU.