AUSTIN &045; It wasn’t a win, but it was progress for the Albert Lea High School volleyball team.

The Tigers, who have struggled while winning only two matches this season, took Austin to five games before dropping a 3-2 Big Nine decision at Austin Tuesday night. The final tally in favor of the Packers was 13-15, 15-10, 11-15, 15-3, 15-11.

&uot;The girls really fought, and that was a huge positive tonight,&uot; said Tigers coach Gina Eppen. &uot;We’ve been kind of flat lately, and we hadn’t won any games in a long time. To pull out two was very big for us tonight.&uot;

To win the opener was even bigger.

&uot;That hasn’t happened a lot this year,&uot; said Eppen. &uot;And we were in game two, but we kind of lost it at the end. In game three, the girls really pushed to get their mental focus.&uot;

The lop-sided loss in game four carried over to the fifth game, according to Eppen.

&uot;Once we dug a hole, it took forever to get out,&uot; she said.

The Tigers’ leaders: Whitney Sorenson 12 blocks, 10 kills, two aces, 21 digs; Ashley Chrz three blocks, six kills, 13 assists, 13 digs; Christina Berggren three blocks, nine kills, 19 digs; Danielle Rankin six kills, two assists, 16 digs; Leah Boyer three blocks, 16 assists, two aces, 14 digs; Jenny Hovendick 19 digs.

The Tigers are off until Saturday’s Mason City Invitational.