ALBERT LEA — The Southland volleyball team came away with a 3-2 win over Albert Lea Monday night to pick its first win of the season.

Fueled by the hitters Chelsey Smith and Jenna Yanger the Rebels were able to hold off a late rally by the Tigers. Smith and Yanger were aggressive at the net and registered a number of cruical kills to propel Southland to victory.

“They hit the weights all summer and came in strong,” Rebels head coach Angie Smith said. “We’ve been working on just placing the ball on our hits and working on some speciality plays.”

Albert Lea (0-1) won the first game 25-23, but Southland (1-0) took two the next two games, 26-24, 25-15 for an advantage.

The Tigers fought back in the fourth game and scored a 25-21 win to halve the match.

In the end the more experienced Rebels team held off a charging Albert Lea team for a 15-12 edge.

The match ended when an Albert Lea player bumped into the net and Southland was awarded a point after the team had just scored.

“Obviously the end was just a sheer lack of experience,” Tigers head coach Lisa Deyak said. “Honestly lack of winning experience. They got into that crunch situation and made a couple of silly errors, the timing was bad.”

The Rebels felt fortunate to pick up the win after having installed a new coaching staff this season.

“We’ve been working hard for tonight,” Smith said. “We came in with a new coach, new staff, new everything. So we’re coming in strong.”