It was going to be a demanding opening three weeks of the season regardless for the Colorado volleyball team, which plays its first 10 games in a span of 17 days.

The Buffaloes have been pushed to the brink in most of their matches so far, as well.

For the third game in a row and the fifth time in eight matches, CU endured a back-and-forth, five-set battle on Friday night against UC Irvine. CU rallied and eventually prevailed 3-2, topping the Anteaters 21-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13 to cap Friday’s opening day of the Buffs Invitational at the CU Events Center.

CU was coming off consecutive five-set losses, losing to Washington on Sunday after taking a 2-0 lead before dropping a five-set decision against Northern Colorado on Wednesday.

Irvine got off to a fast start in the opening set, jumping to a 7-1 lead. The Buffs rallied, taking a 15-13 lead, but the Anteaters outscored CU 12-6 the rest of the way to take the early advantage. It was a rough opening frame for the Buffs, who posted a negative hitting percentage (minus-.027) while committing eight of their 25 attack errors.

“If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn’t have scheduled that mid-week match. But we wanted to play Northern Colorado,” CU head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “But it turns into (that) you can’t really practice mid-week. We play that (UNC) match, go five, and you can’t really practice on Thursday because we have to save ourselves. Then we go five again and now we’re a little bit behind the 8-ball.

“I like the fact that we were under pressure and (could) succeed there at the end. But we have to play well in sets one and two so we’re not having to play well in sets four and five.”

CU (5-3) pulled away late in the second set to pull even, but UC Irvine (4-3) led throughout the third set to take a 2-1 lead. The Buffs stayed alive in the fourth set, using a late 8-3 run to force a deciding fifth set. Irvine pushed the Buffs to the brink in the fifth, taking a 10-8 lead, but the Buffs responded by finishing the frame on a 7-3 run to secure the win.

The Buffs improved to 3-2 in their five-set matches.

Following the opening-set struggles, the Buffs finished with a .209 hitting percentage against a .204 mark for UC Irvine. Despite CU’s early struggles, Irvine still finished with more attack errors (28) and serving errors (10, compared to nine for CU).

Sydney Jordan shook off a slow start to finish with a game-high 17 kills for the Buffs, while middle blockers Cayla Payne and Bella Simkus recorded six blocks apiece. Payne also recorded 14 kills, and setter Taylor Simpson posted 49 assists.

“We’ve just got to work on getting excited from the start, knowing that we’re playing good teams and you can’t expect to just come out and win every time,” said CU’s Lily Dwinell, who finished with 12 kills. “We’re going to have to work. And that starts from the beginning, not halfway through the game.”

(1 p.m., ESPN+). It will be CU’s first matchup against Wyoming in five years.