Talking about clawing your way to victory.

In the final match of the afternoon for the Albert Lea girls tennis team against United South Central the Tigers fought back to claim a 4-3 win. The Albert Lea No. 3 doubles team of juniors Jenna Sager and Amy Bohlen trailed 2-5 in the third set against the United South Central duo of Dani Roberts and Rachel Mattick but rallied for five consecutive games to pull off a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win to give the Tigers a 4-3 win and a 3-0 start to the season.

The win also ended a lengthy Albert Lea losing streak against the Rebels the dates more than a decade.

“We won three, three-set matches,” said Tigers head coach Sean Gillam. “There’s a toughness issue that comes with that.”

USC advanced to state last season in Class A and is expected to return a strong team once again. Last year the Tigers lost 0-7 to the Rebels, but Albert Lea came into this match with a more experienced lineup with eight juniors starting that saw varsity time last year.

Junior Taylor Nelson and the No. 2 doubles team of juniors Mikaela Pierson and Erika Blickenderfer also pulled off three-set wins. Nelson glided to a 6-1 win in the first set in her match against Taylor Allis, but dropped the second set 3-6 before coming back with a 6-2 win in the third set. Pierson and Blickenderfer dropped the first set 3-6 but won the next two sets 6-4 for the win.

Ninth-grader Michelle Hartmann provided Albert Lea with its other victory with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Robin Staloch.

Outside of Hartmann’s win, every match was closely contested.

At No. 1 singles USC’s Carolyn Schmitz out lasted Kelli Hanson in a two-set epic that featured a series of long rallies. Schmitz came away with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Kellsie Dieser took a 2-6 loss in the first set against Ali Ramsley, but came back to make the match interesting in the second set as she lost 6-7 (4-7) in a tiebreaker. The No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Wenum and Alarie Maras battled with the Rebels team of Kellie Robbins and Molly Yokiel. In the end it was Robbins and Yokiel coming away with a 6-4, 6-4 win, their second of the season over a Class AA team.

“Our pairings looked good,” Gillam said. “It looked like the chemistry at No. 2 was good, and the chemistry at one looked good.”

The 3-0 start is also the best in a very long time because USC is typically the first team the Tigers play in the season. Albert Lea will continue to grind it out Monday in its next match against Marshall.