The Dexter Bearcats moved one step closer to their first victory of the season Monday night.
The Bearcats won their first set of the season and came within one point of winning the match before Farmington finished them off 24-26, 27-25, 25-16.
Dexter (0-3) was swept by Arcadia Valley and Jackson prior to Labor Day before returning to action Monday after a 10-day layoff.
"I think the girls went out and played hard, but they've just got to get the confidence to finish," Dexter coach Starla Pulley said. "That third set, when you play a good team like Farmington ... you can't come out and make four or five errors on hitting and blocking. You've got to be able to come out and execute. That's what we talked about. We have to be able to take care of the ball from the get-go."
The Knights (14-3) were coming off winning the gold bracket at the Dig for Life tournament in Cape Girardeau.
"Tonight, we started out very, very slow," Farmington coach Julie Ward said.
"We're coming off that long weekend for Dig for Life down at SEMO. ... I knew it was going to be sluggish. Dexter always provides a very, very solid team. They're scrappy. They have great hitters. They are well coached. So, we knew it was going to be a battle coming in here tonight."
The Bearcats won a tightly-contested first set where neither team led by more than four points. They held leads of 16-12 and 19-15.
The Knights received kill-blocks from Macey Pauls, Jordyn Harris and Lauren Bishop to fuel a 6-1 run that gave them a 21-20 lead.
A kill by Blair Rogers and a hitting error by Farmington put the Bearcats ahead 22-21.
Pauls' kill, Bishop's kill-block and a Dexter passing error gave the Knights a 24-22 lead.
Chloe Thurmon's kill and Rogers' kill-block tied the score at 24. Farmington's hitting error gave the Bearcats set point, and Rogers' kill clinched the win.
The Bearcats carried the momentum into the second set, building a 10-5 lead behind two kills by Maycie Martin and one each by Alexa Werneck, Dulcie Pullen and Rogers. Thurmon contributed two kill-blocks and Martin had one.
The Knights fought back to take a 12-11 lead behind kills by Jesse Miller and Macy Embry.
The lead changed hands four times and the score was tied on eight occasions before the Knights scored four of five points to achieve set point at 24-21.
The Bearcats fought back with four straight points to take a 25-24 lead. Thurmon's kill tied the score at 24, and Pullen's kill-block gave the Bearcats match point.
However, Farmington scored the next three points to tie the match at one set apiece.
"They came back on us every single time," Ward said. "After they took that first set, it was back and forth, back and forth. We finally got a couple breaks. They made a couple of mistakes, and things went our way. I knew that if we won that second set, we would come out and finish strong in the third, and that's what happened."
Sarah Bauer, Blair Busenbark, Miller and Kaylee Wooldridge hit consecutive kills to give Farmington a quick 4-0 lead in the third set.
The Bearcats cut the lead to one point twice (7-6 and 8-7) on a pair of kills by Pullen, but three straight errors by Dexter helped the Knights push their lead to 11-7.
After Dexter cut its deficit to 11-9, the Knights answered with a 9-4 run to take a commanding 20-13 lead. Miller finished the run with three straight kills.
The Bearcats cut their deficit to 22-16, but Farmington closed the match with three straight points that included a match-ending kill by Bishop.
Pullen, a freshman, made her varsity debut Monday night and provided four kills, a team-high 17 assists and seven digs.
Martin and Werneck paced the Bearcats with seven kills each, and Thurmon added six kills and a team-high five blocks.
Natalie Sitze had a team-high 14 digs, and Mekenzie Yount had 11.
Shelby Bishop had 13 assists and seven digs.