AMHERST — Two of the top girls volleyball programs in Western Massachusetts collided for a five-set thriller on Monday evening.

Frontier came out swinging to win the first set, which eventually propelled them to a 3-2 (25-15, 25-27, 25-20, 21-25, 15-11) victory over Amherst to improve the Redhawks record to 3-0 on the season.

Only a handful of teams in the region have been able to hang around with Frontier over the past several years — Amherst being one of them. Last season, the Hurricanes fell 3-1 and 3-2 to the Redhawks in their two meetings, but provided them a challenge each time.

Monday – the first of two matches between the squads this year – was more of the same.

“We knew Amherst was gonna be tough, they’re tough every year,” Frontier head coach Sean MacDonald said. “They have 10 seniors, so we knew that we were gonna see a lot of familiar faces. We had a lot of our familiar faces graduate. Today went kind of how I thought it would.”

How MacDonald thought it would go was his team experiencing some nerves, and in turn, making mistakes because of them. Frontier’s first two contests on Sept. 3 were both 3-0 sweeps, so this was the first time the Redhawks had really been tested. And on top of that, they had to play in front of a packed crowd in a hostile and steamy Amherst gymnasium.

“I knew there would be some nerves,” MacDonald said. “It’s nice to get tested and come out on the right side. I think that being on the winning side puts a little confidence in us. Confidence comes from past success, so to have some success today is good for us going forward.”

During set one, Frontier raced out to a 17-6 lead, overpowering Amherst with strong hits on the outside and sprinkling in some really solid defense. The Hurricanes snuck their way back into the set and put together some competitive points, but it was too little too late. 

“I mean the first set, I didn’t even recognize my team,” Amherst head coach Kacey Schmitt said. “I never expected us to come out with those kinds of jitters that we had. Frontier has that reputation, and they’re always good, so I think that got in our heads a little bit.”

Their strong finish to set one was encouraging heading into the second, however, as Amherst has 11 returning players and made a run into the Division 2 state tournament last season. Playing in big games is second nature to the ’Canes, it just took them a set to kick it into gear.

“I felt like we started coming on more toward the end of that first set, but we dug ourselves too big a hole,” Schmitt said. “I told them to build on what they did at the end of that set, and then we came back and won that second set.”

The third and fourth sets featured several long rallies and acrobatic plays, with Amherst senior libero Liza Beigel (19 digs, three assists, one ace) in the mix of almost every point. Whether she was sprawling out on the floor to go after a ball or constructing her teammates to get into the correct position, she was truly everywhere on Monday evening. 

“She just goes all out all the time,” Schmitt said of Beigel. “She’s a real catalyst for everybody in the back row. She has excellent skills and has made herself, by working really hard in the off season, into a formidable libero – really in the entire state in my opinion.”

Sets three and four were split, and the match went to a fifth and final set. MacDonald had a message for his team going into it, as he felt optimistic about the Redhawks’ chances so long as they cut down on their unforced errors.

“I told them that we’re scoring every point on the board,” MacDonald said. “They’re scoring points, but we’re responsible for them. When you cut down on the errors, it forces [the other team] to be a lot better. I felt like we did that more in the fifth set.”

Frontier indeed cut down on its errors and quickly jumped ahead 8-4. The teams switched sides of the court for the second half of the set, and they split the next 14 points to bring the final score to 15-11 and give the Redhawks the win.

Kate DeMaio played a crucial role in Frontier’s win. DeMaio’s serving was spectacular, as she tallied nine aces and also recorded eight kills and four digs. MacDonald had nothing but good things to say about the senior.

“She’s come so far,” MacDonald said. “A year and a half ago, I’d be scared to have her serve a ball. And now, she’s scoring a lot of points for us with her serve, and putting a lot of pressure on the Amherst offense. She’s certainly contributed in that phase, she had a block, a couple really nice hits. She’s come a long way and I’m proud of her.”

For Amherst, Schmitt felt as if only one thing held the Hurricanes back from coming out on the other side of Monday’s match.

“Our biggest issue throughout the match was we kept missing serves,” Schmitt said. “So much of it is about mental toughness and being able to collect yourself. We really have to work on that, because they all know how to serve. They need to know they can do it under pressure.”

Frontier (3-0) travels to Central on Wednesday for its fourth straight road bout. That match against the Golden Eagles is set to start at 5:15 p.m.

Amherst (2-1), on the other hand, will play in its fourth consecutive tilt at home when it hosts Longmeadow on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.