FOREST GROVE, Ore. — Pacific picked up its first conference win and at the same time dealt Whitworth its initial Northwest Conference loss during a Homecoming volleyball upset at the Stoller Center on Friday night.

The Boxers took out the Pirates in five sets to move to 1-4 in conference play and to 3-9 overall. Whitworth, who was unblemished in league play, is now 4-1 in the NWC and 10-4 overall. Pacific pulled off the upset by the count of 22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 17-25, 15-12.

The Boxers dropped the first set but came back to knot things up as the two clubs traded identical 25-22 scores. In the pivotal third set, the Boxers led for most of the match, including at 19-14 but the 'Bucs kept coming back. After tying the count at 24-24, the hosts finally pulled away and sealed the deal on a Morgan Mendicino kill win the rubber game, 28-26.

Whitworth took control of the fourth set winning going away (25-17), setting up the fifth and final rally scoring set. The two teams traded blows and were tied at 8-8 before the Boxers went on a four-point run, fueled in part by a Marie Rewick kill and a Lia Zablan ace. After Pacific pushed the lead to 14-9, a few points later Rewick ended the match with a put away in front of a homecoming celebrating crowd of 156.

"We have been on the verge of breaking through for a few matches now," said Pacific head coach Kip Yoshimura. "It was nice to battle back and see the girls get rewarded this time against a very good team."

Rewick led a balanced attack with 11 kills and 18 digs. Mendicino also had 11 kills and added 10 digs, while Ciara Smith contributed 10 kills and five total blocks. Emily Farnham dealt out 43 assists. On the defensive side, Karissa Koma led the squad with 19 digs and Zablan had 17.

The Boxers won't have too much time to enjoy this one as they will be right back on the Stoller Center court Saturday night, hosting Whitman at 5 p.m.