TUCSON, Ariz. – Atlantic Coast Conference foe North Carolina spoiled the season opener for the Pacific volleyball team, defeating the Tigers in five, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13 at the Cactus Classic hosted by the University of Arizona.

Alexa Edwards (15), Biamba Kabengele (14), Darina Kumanova (11) each had double-digit kills in the loss for Pacific. A pair of Tigers had a double double, Jenna Heller with 26 assists and 18 digs and Megan Nishimura with 14 digs and 11 assists.

North Carolina was led by Mabrey Shaffmaster, who earned 2022 AVCA East Coast All-Region honors, with 24 kills. Emani Foster and Romani Thurman, who added 19 and 11 kills, respectively to the winning cause. Foster added 11 digs for a double double.

The tightly contested match saw it tied on 23 occasions and featured 12 lead changes. The fifth set saw the two teams tied twice and one decisive lead change.

In the fifth set, North Carolina jumped out to a 3-1 advantage and managed to stretch the lead to as much as 9-5 before Tigers' head coach Greg Gibbons called a timeout. The Tigers responded eventually tying the set at 12 on a Kabengele kill. Back-to-back kills by Shaffmaster put North Carolina ahead 14-12 and en route to a 15-13 win to secure the win.

Next, Pacific will take on host Arizona at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Wildcats have started the season with an 0-2 mark with losses to North Carolina and UC Davis on Friday.