STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific women's volleyball team opened its home conference slate by winning a five-set thriller over San Francisco, 25-18, 20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 15-13, Thursday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
"We were battling back and forth," said head coach Greg Gibbons. "We can score points. That's the strength of ours. Kudos to them because we score some points. That's for sure."
 
The Tigers secured their first conference win of the season, evening out to 1-1 on the year and 9-5 overall. The Dons drop their first conference game of the season, sitting at 2-1 on the campaign and 8-7 overall.
 
Pacific's performance was fueled by three double-doubles, including a match-high 20 kills from fifth-year senior Biamba Kabengele. Senior Darina Kumanova added 13 kills and 11 digs while senior Alexa Edwards tacked on 11 kills and a team-high 18 digs. Junior Jenna Heller paced the Tigers with a career-high 51 assists.
 
"This was a really important game for us," said Kabengele. "We knew we had to show up and play our best volleyball. We played through a lot of adversity and switches, but we made sure it was a team effort at the end."
 
The Tigers used the energy from the home crowd right out of the gate to take control of the first set, which saw the most lead changes and ties. Pacific hit .351 (18-5-37) en route to secure the first set point.
 
The Dons responded by taking the next set as both sides didn't hit the ball as efficient as the first set, but attack errors and blocks played a big part in the second frame.
 
San Francisco carried their momentum from the prior set, hitting .409 to take a pivotal third set.
 
But the Tigers wouldn't go away. With a string of kills by Kumanova and a surge of offensive pressure, Pacific closed out the fourth frame to level the sets up at two apiece.
 
For the fifth and final set, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead before the Dons called a timeout. The visitors regrouped and eventually took the slight edge 8-7 before switching sides. The two sides traded points in the form of kills, separating by no more than one point. Following Kumanova's 12th kill of the night to give the tigers a 13-12 lead. San Francisco looked for another breather with their final timeout of the set.
 
Out of the break, another kill by Kumanova set up a pair of opportunities for the Tigers to win the set point. Despite a service error by Kabengele, Pacific pounced on the last chance to take the set outright before extending beyond 15 points with a back row kill by Edwards, lifting the Tigers' fans to their feet in celebration with the home victory.

"Five sets are definitely an emotional rollercoaster," said Kabengele. "It's always fun playing five sets. You want to be that last person standing and we were able to prove that today."
 
The Tigers continue their conference home-opening weekend as they welcome in Santa Clara at noon on Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Alex G. Spanos Center.