There were times when the Mankato West volleyball team played well, times when they didn’t. Coach Mary Nelson said she saw some improvement, but there’s still something missing.

“There’s little glimmers, but we’re still not where we need to be,” she said. “We don’t trust each other, we’re still playing scared.”

West (0-2) dropped a 3-1 Big Nine Conference match to Winona on Tuesday at the West gym.

Game scores were 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-19.

West fell behind 12-4 in the first game but rallied to tie at 18. Ashley Veroeven had three kills and a block in the rally, and Jessica Henke had an ace serve and two kills.

However, with the score tied at 20, Winona’s last five points came on four hitting errors and a net violation.

“The confidence would have been there if we’d won the first one,” Nelson said. “It’s the beginning of the season, and we’re still waiting for things to happen.”

The second game was nearly identical, as the Winhawks grabbed the lead at 18-8.

West rallied within 22-19 as Chantel Peterson and Elise Morrison each made two kills, but a net violation, hitting error and Hannah Norman’s ace kill ended the game.

West won its first game of the season in the third, this time getting up 7-1 as Alex Hickok served seven straight points, including two aces. Winona slowly crawled back and drew within 17-16 before West scored five straight points.

Winona answered with five points, but the Scarlets held on, winning the game on Hickok’s tip.

“We know we can do it,” Nelson said. “We showed a number of positives, but not enough.”

Winona led 5-1 in Game 4 before West rallied, drawing even at 12 with Peterson making two kills.

The game was still tied at 16 before Winona reeled off six of the next seven points. Another three-point run, with two West hitting errors, ended the match.

Peterson led the Scarlets with nine kills, one block and three ace serves, and Morrison had six kills and two blocks.