photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Ray Bechard gives instruction to his players during the first set on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017.

The Kansas volleyball program picked up its first two victories of the season this weekend at the LUV Invitational in Nashville.

KU (2-3) recorded a win over host school Lipscomb on Thursday night and knocked off previously unbeaten Wake Forest on Friday before falling to 15th-ranked Western Kentucky (5-0) in three sets on Saturday, 11-25, 22-25, 17-25.

Saturday’s setback followed a dramatic finish on Friday, when the Jayhawks came from behind to beat Wake Forest, winning 24-26, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11.

In that one, the Jayhawks were led by 16 kills apiece from super-senior Jenny Mosser and redshirt senior Anezka Szabo, and also received a career-high 50 assists from sophomore setter Elise McGhie.

“It was one of those uneven matches where you needed to make enough hustle plays and we were able to do that,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “Wake Forest certainly put some pressure on us and in the end, we responded well.”

In the opener, a three-set sweep of Lipscomb, the Jayhawks rolled to a 25-14, 25-15, 25-16 victory.

Mosser and freshman Caroline Bien led the offense with 11 kills apiece.

“We played pretty well from start to finish,” Bechard said. “We felt like if we could make physicality part of the equation, that would give us a good chance. We won the blocking battle, 12-2, and that set the tone. We were aggressive from the serving line with 10 aces in three sets, and we were low on the attack errors with only six errors on 75 swings. Put all those things together and it was a good win against a good team.”

After playing its first five matches of the 2021 season away from Lawrence, KU will open up at home when it plays host to the Kansas Invitational, Sept. 9-11 at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

KU will play Delaware on Thursday (6:30 p.m.), Wichita State on Friday (7 p.m.) and Kent State on Saturday (1 p.m.).