Coach Gina Eppen didn’t think the Albert Lea High School volleyball team was necessarily intimidated by the powerful Mankato West Scarlets.

The Tigers just did not play well.

&uot;We didn’t really have an opportunity to set anything up,&uot; said Eppen. &uot;We played defense most of the night.&uot;

The result was a 3-0 loss for the Tigers in a Big Nine match at ALHS Thursday. The Scarlets won 15-4, 15-3, 15-3.

&uot;We didn’t have a strong night,&uot; said Eppen. &uot;I don’t know if we were intimidated so much. We just didn’t play well tonight.&uot;

And Eppen said a team will have to play very well to knock off the Scarlets, who remained unbeaten in conference matches.

&uot;West is good,&uot; she said. &uot;I don’t know who’s going to beat them. As far as I know, no one has taken a game off West. The only team I’ve seen get to double digits against them was Austin, with 11. They’re tall, they have a lot of weapons, they’re just a very solid team.&uot;

The Tigers’ statistical leaders: Ashley Chrz, four kills, four set assists; Christina Berggren, one ace, four digs, three kills, two blocks; Jenny Hovendick, five digs, two assists; Danielle Rankin, five digs, one block; Amber Edwards, three digs, two kills, two blocks; Leah Boyer, one kills, two assists.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-3 in the Big Nine and 1-5 overall. They play in the Jackson County Central Invitational Saturday.