Negaunee’s Chloe Norman, middle left, goes for the kill as Westwood’s Elizabeth Farley, right, reaches to make a block during a high school volleyball match held at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Tuesday night. Awaiting the play are the Miners’ Ielee Shiroda, left, and the Patriots’ Alina Jones, middle right. (Journal photo by Corey Kelly)

NEGAUNEE — Elizabeth Farley put up a stats line that showed she came to play as Westwood ground out a back-and-forth five-set victory over Negaunee in a Mid-Peninsula Conference volleyball match played at the Miners’ Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Farley made 13 kills, 11 digs, five aces and added a block as the Patriots prevailed 26-24, 11-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13 in each teams’ first dual match of the season.

Westwood head coach Heather Salmi said experience should help her team a lot this season and it showed against Negaunee.

“We came back with a lot of returning seniors from last year,” Salmi said. “We struggled with even getting our first victory last year. tonight’s match was back and forth, back and forth and it was definitely intense volleyball.”

Salmi added that Negaunee played a hard-fought match and her team was happy to win.

“Negaunee played really well,” Salmi said. “Tonight we fortunately came out on top.”

Negaunee coach Sarah MacDonald said the story of the night were the ups and downs.

“We came out a little bit relaxed, we weren’t quite at the level of intensity we should have been at,” she said. “We kind of battled back; it was an ups-and-downs kind of night.”

The Miners coach added the loss is nothing to be ashamed of and that she’s looking forward to the rest of the season.

“We have a lot of leadership on this team,” MacDonald said. “We should have some good things ahead.”

The first set was close throughout; neither team held a lead of more than three points as the lead changed hands seven times.

Westwood led 13-10 before Negaunee scored four unanswered points including a kill by Chloe Norman to put the home team up 14-13. Then with Westwood working on set point, the Miners forced a 24-24 before the Patriots scored two consecutive points with a kill from Katie Wiljanen to finish off the set.

Sets 2 and 3 weren’t as dramatic with each team getting a win. In the second set, the score was tied 7-7 before the Miners went on a dominating 14-0 run.

The match got back to its close competition in Set 4 with neither team getting a big advantage. Westwood used a 5-0 run to take an 18-16 lead, but Negaunee fought back with its own 4-0 streak to take the lead for good and force the decisive fifth set.

In the finale, which ends at 15 points, the Patriots scored four unanswered points to break a tie and go up 12-8. Negaunee responded with five straight of its own to retake a 13-12 lead before Westwood had the final flurry, a run of three points in a row to end the set, which also had seven lead changes, and the match.

Farley was pleased with her and her teammates’ intensity level.

“Last year we didn’t have much intensity, so this year we really focused on that,” she said. “That really helped us and we started getting perfect passes and hitting the ball strong; that really helped our game and we pulled it out in five.”

Farley expects that same intenseness to carry forward.

“We’re just going to keep the same push and be loud and intense,” Farley said.

In addition to Farley, other Patriot leaders in the stats column were Sarah Rautio with 29 digs, four kills, three aces and 18 assists; Katie Wiljanen with eight kills; Aidan Reath with 20 digs and five kills; and Kaitlin Ackland with 19 digs and two kills.

For Negaunee, Allyson Jacobson had seven blocks and 15 kills, Ielee Shiroda 14 kills and Natasha Symons 18 assists.

The Miners remain at home for their next match against Iron Mountain on Tuesday, while Westwood is also home for its next match against new M-PC opponent Gladstone on Aug. 31.

Negaunee won the JV match in two sets, though scores weren’t available.

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.