FAIRMONT — Purnell Swett volleyball coach Corey Deese wasn’t necessarily a five-set match at Fairmont on Wednesday. But when the Golden Tornadoes took the fourth set to force a fifth, the Rams stepped up in the winner-take-all set to win 15-5 and claim the match 3-2.

“They persevered,” Deese said. “I guess it’s good to practice going five sets, but that’s not really what I wanted to go through tonight with three away games this week. But I’m just glad they finished on top; we always stress, start strong, stay strong, finish strong, and the finishing part is sometimes what we struggle with, so I’m just glad they finished on top.”

From a 3-3 tie in the fifth set, Purnell Swett (6-4) went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-3 lead. From that point, the margin was never closer than seven points the rest of the set.

The run was just one part of a strong night for Locklear, who had seven kills, five aces and 16 digs for the Rams.

“She’s amazing,” Deese said. “Super athletic, quiet on the court but her presence is super loud. Whether she opens her mouth or she doesn’t you know she’s on the court, making amazing plays, and digs and saves that other people would just let the ball drop. She’s everywhere saving the ball all the time.”

After being swept by the Rams Aug. 19, Fairmont (0-8) won two sets in Wednesday’s match; the Golden Tornadoes had won just one set all season entering the match.

“I think we’ve improved,” Fairmont coach Kaitlyn Hunt said. “I think those girls have improved from the first match to now. Those girls came out here and did the job that they had to do. I hate that we lost, it would have been nice to get that win, but I think they’re ready for conference.”

Fairmont used an 8-0 run in the first set to take a 20-12 lead and led 23-17 before Purnell Swett came back to even the score at 25-25. After the teams swapped the next four points, Fairmont took a 28-27 lead on a Sierra Jacobs kill and then won the next point to win the set 29-27.

“I think that first set was what they needed to push and get their confidence where it needed to be,” Hunt said.

Seeking a 2-0 lead, Fairmont used an 8-3 spurt to take a 20-19 lead in the second set, but the Rams scored six straight to win the set 25-20 and even the match.

“Any time you can get the momentum on your side, because volleyball is very much a momentum sport, it just helps point up here (mentally) when you have the momentum,” Deese said. “That’s what they did with the second set, they just dug deep and fought and played their game.”

From a 12-12 tie in the third set, the Rams took off with a big run and won the set 25-14 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Needing the fourth set to stay in the match, Fairmont controlled the set from start to finish; after taking a 9-4 lead, the Golden Tornadoes led by five points or more throughout the middle portions of the set. Purnell Swett closed to 20-16 and 21-17, but Fairmont scored the next four points to win 25-17.

“What went well for us in that set was that we didn’t make many serving errors in that set, like we did for the second set,” Hunt said. “We came in, we got our serves, we got our hits, and I just told them that they’ve got to want it, they’ve got to grind for it.”

Adisyn Bland had six aces, nine kills, three digs and five blocks for Purnell Swett. Braci Woods had four aces, six kills and four digs, Riley Deese had three kills and four blocks, and Kamryn Locklear had five aces.

Shonesty Hunt had seven aces, 28 assists and 18 digs for Fairmont, Kersten Hunt had four aces, 10 kills and 20 digs, Sierra Jones had 11 kills and six digs, Alexis Brown had four aces, five kills and 37 digs and Lucy Taylor had 55 digs.

Fairmont begins Southeastern Athletic Conference play Thursday by hosting Red Springs. Purnell Swett plays Thursday at Douglas Byrd.