TUCSON, Ariz. – Pacific volleyball powered past Weber State 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-19, 12-25, 15-11) inside the McKale Center Friday morning in the opening round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship on the backs of clutch offensive performances.

Pacific (19-12) improved to 10-2 in five-set matches on the year. It's the most five-set wins in a season under head coach Greg Gibbons, who is in his 15th season.

Graduate Alexa Edwards tallied 21 kills to lead all players. With 15 digs, she was one of two from Pacific to record a double-double along with senior Jenna Heller with 47 assists and 15 digs.

A key contributor was junior Emily Van Groningen.who matched her career-high with 16 kills and posted her eighth double-figure kill performance of the year (Pacific is 7-1 in those matches). Coming into the season, the she had gone for 10-plus kills just seven times combined in the previous two campaigns.

As a team, Pacific dug 86 balls on the afternoon, which is the third most of the season and the most against a non-conference team. Leading the defensive charge was senior libero Megan Nishimura, who dug her season-high 20 balls and reached the 20-dig milestone for the first time since Sept. 16, 2023, against Sacramento State.

Sophomore Dylan Gilkey posted 11 digs, marking the first time she has dug 10-plus balls in consecutive games for the first time in her career.

Up next for the Tigers are a match-up with site host Arizona (20-9) and Pacific leads the all-time series history 7-5. First ball from the McKale center on Saturday is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+.



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