Contending against Farmington’s front line made life difficult for the Albert Lea volleyball team.

Facing a pair of six-footers who were like a wall at times presented problems for the Tigers in a 25-15, 25-22, 25-11 loss to Farmington.

Farmington’s Katie Habeck and Danni Dombeck were too much for Albert Lea at times as Habeck totaled 11 blocks and 10 kills in the match while Dombeck tallied 11 kills in the three-set sweep.

“She (Habeck) was like a brick wall,” said Tigers head coach Jamie Mauseth. “She was blocking everything that we had. She had a really good game and she was a tough blocker.”

Albert Lea (2-7) found ways around Habeck with quick tips during the second set and nearly pulled off the win in a 25-22 loss. The set was tied up to 21-21 until a few mistakes got the better of the Tigers and Farmington (4-2) was able to pull away with four consecutive points.

“I think that we’re doing lots of things right, we just need to clean it up a little bit more,” Mauseth said. “I really thought we were going to have game two and they really just need to learn to push on through to the end and win that game.”

In the third set Albert Lea was powerless against Habeck as she had five blocks in the set and Farmington cruised to a 25-11 win.

“We’ve designed our defense around that wall,” said Farmington head coach Mike Woody. “When we’re digging well, too, teams end up hitting right into it.”

Farmington rattled off nine consecutive points during the third set.

“I thought tonight we had a couple really great moments where we were being really scrappy and laying out for balls and doing everything we could to get the ball over,” Mauseth said.

Bethany Sekora led Albert Lea with five kills on the night and had three blocks, including two consecutive blocks during the second set that allowed the Tigers to tie the set at 18.

London Avery had four kills and Kristine Kelly three while Caylee Tennis led the team with 15 assists. Kelly led the team with 13 digs and Courtney Schnaith added nine digs.

“Every time I watch them play now I always see some kind of improvement with them,” Mauseth said. “One of the things we need to work on is just staying up the whole entire match. We just need to change that so we start competing with teams a little better and be consistent in our level of play in every single game.”

Albert Lea faces Mankato West Thursday in Albert Lea.