DAVIS — Playing in its first Sac-Joaquin Section Div. I final in 12 years, the second-seeded Napa High volleyball team took six-time defending champion Nevada Union to the wire Thursday night, winning the first and fourth games before the Miners prevailed 24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12 at UC Davis.

Top-seeded Nevada Union (31-2 overall), leading 11-8 in the fifth game, blocked three straight Napa kill attempts before the Indians won the long point with a block of their own. But the Miners, who matched up with Napa size-wise, blocked Tatum Souza for a 13-9 lead. Katie Morris’ dink and a pair of Souza kills made it 13-12 before the Miners put it away.

“That was a battle royale,” Indians co-coach Stephanie Raymond said. “We came here to play a great match and that’s what we did. It hurts that it didn't go our way, but all the girls played outstandingly and you couldn't ask for too much more than that.”

Souza finished with a match-high 20 kills. Christina Fonville had eight kills, Kayla Martin supplied five kills and four blocks, and Maggie Wessell added four kills and two blocks. Setter Cassidy Wallace racked up more than 40 assists, and got the winning point in Game 4 with a smart dump over the net to a hole.

The Miners gave up seven Souza kills in the second game but blocked several other attempts from the high-flying junior. The Indians needed someone else to pick up the slack. Fonville answered the call by mixing up Napa’s attack with hits to holes and down the net. The senior had five kills in the third game and two big ones late in the Game 4 victory.

“She was doing a great job of being crafty and hitting off high hands because she’s a smaller player,” Raymond said of Fonville. “Against a big block like (NU's), she had to be smart. She stepped up and adjusted very well.”

Two other Napa seniors, Rachel Barbos and JJ Wagoner, provided solid serving and some big digs.

The Indians controlled the first game behind Souza’s five kills, taking a 2-1 lead and not relinquishing it until Nevada Union took a 23-22 lead. A Wessell kill and a double-hit call against NU got the lead back for Napa. The Miners tied it again but a Souza kill got the lead back, and Wallace and Morris double-blocked for the winning point.

“We went in knowing Napa was scrappy, that they could get the ball up every time we put it over, but (Souza) was swinging away and that caught us off guard at first,” Nevada Union coach Chrys Dudek said. “We were able to key on her more as the match went on. But they could really put the ball down, and it took us out of our rhythm. They could hit from both the front and back row, and that’s not something we've faced a lot.”

Nevada Union was a mystery to Napa in its own ways.

“They were really utilizing their middle blockers and we haven’t faced a lot of teams that do that,” Raymond said. “It took a little while to adjust to that, but by the third and fourth games we really started to do that.”

In the second game, Napa chipped away at an 11-4 deficit — the widest margin all night — after the Miners found their quick-setting offense. But after rallying from a deadly 24-20 deficit to within 24-23, Souza tried a lob shot to the Miners’ back row and it went long.

In the third game, Wallace was called for several double-hit fouls, resulting in more than just points for the Miners.

“I can’t help but think the calls were a little bit rougher on our side, and the (double-hit calls) affected our setter’s confidence as well,” Raymond said. “But (why we lost) was more than that. We missed too many serves and we had miscommunication at times.”

Napa (25-3 overall) will open the Northern California playoffs on the road Tuesday night. The opponent will be determined Sunday.