CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In its first five-set match of the season, No. 15 Stanford fell at No. 23 North Carolina, 17-25, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 11-15, Sunday night, at Carmichael Arena.
North Carolina (14-4, 9-1 ACC) defeated the Cardinal for the first time since 2015. Stanford (13-7, 6-4 ACC) had won the previous two meetings as ACC opponents by straight sets.
Up 2-1 in the match and leading 6-3 in the fourth, Stanford setter Logan Parks was hit while going up for a block and had to leave the match. With both Taylor Yu and Lilly Wagner unavailable on Sunday, the Cardinal replaced Parks with freshman outside hitter Simone Roslon.
The Tar Heels outscored Stanford 17-10 as the Cardinal played without a setter on the court for the majority of the fourth frame.
Middle blocker Lizzy Andrew was impressive on both offense and defense, registering 14 kills on .400 hitting, two aces, two digs and 11 blocks.
Outside hitter Julia Blyashov reached the 20-kill plateau for the third straight match. The senior posted her eighth double-double of the year with 20 kills and 12 digs, and had a career-high five blocks and an ace.
Stanford  posted a season-high 19.0 blocks as a team and held a 5-2 advantage in aces.
Parks, who returned to the match late in the fourth set, finished with 45 assists, nine digs, three blocks and a kill. Libero Spencer Etzler collected 11 digs and three assists.
Freshman middle blocker Ella Andrews tallied seven kills on a .308 attack percentage and tied her career-high with eight blocks. Senior outside hitter Ipar Kurt also matched her career-best with five blocks to go with 12 kills and three digs.
Opposite Jordyn Harvey paced Stanford with 16 digs and had five kills, three blocks, two aces and two assists. Defensive specialist Malyssa Cawa added 10 digs and four assists, while Roslon totaled four assists, three digs and a block.
North Carolina was led by Jackie Taylor, who turned in 13 kills on .480 hitting and a match-high 14 blocks.
Up next, Stanford faces rival Cal in a double dose of the Big Spike, starting Wednesday in Berkeley at 7 p.m. The Cardinal and Golden Bears will meet again on Friday at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.