ROCHESTER &045; For weeks, coach Gina Eppen has talked about the importance of getting ahead early for the Albert Lea High School volleyball team.

The Tigers finally did it. And they left a long losing streak behind them.

The Tigers took charge from the start and dominated Rochester John Marshall 3-0 Thursday night, winning 15-5, 15-3, 15-13. Game three was close because Eppen emptied the bench.

&uot;We’ve all been waiting to long to win, so it was nice that everyone could be a part of it,&uot; said Eppen.

It was the Tigers’ first win since the second match of the season, ending a nine-match skid.

They’re 1-3 in the Big Nine, 2-10 overall.

The Tigers’ statistical leaders

at Rochester: Leah Boyer nine digs, 11 set assists, one block, one kill; Amber Edwards 18 digs, four kills, five blocks, one ace; Christina Berggren six kills, nine digs, two blocks; Jenny Hovendick nine digs, two aces; Whitney Sorenson

seven kills, eight digs, one block; Ashley Chrz six digs, nine aces, three kills, one block, one ace; Emily Thompson four kills; Krista Jackson two kills, one block; Danielle Rankin five digs, one block, two aces.

&uot;Berggren was impressive,&uot; said Eppen. &uot;We just switched her from middle to outside hitter, and she had no hitting errors. Jenny Hovendick also had some outstanding digs in the back row.&uot;

As a team, the Tigers were 59-for-67 serving, with seven aces.

&uot;To our credit, we just went out there and got the job done,&uot; said Eppen. &uot;We’ve been talking about how we need to get ahead early in games instead of falling way behind, and tonight we finally were able to do that. It feels great to win again.&uot;

The Tigers host Waseca Tuesday.