BOX SCORE

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Babson College sophomore Carolina Baez (Quito, Ecuador) pulled out a three-set victory at number six singles to help the Beavers claim a thrilling 5-4 win over visiting New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Springfield College in a women's tennis contest at the Boston Sports Club on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, Babson remained perfect on the year at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference, while the narrow defeat dropped the Pride's record to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the NEWMAC.

Babson received a quick 8-1 win by senior captain Jes Huang (Andover, Mass.) and sophomore Rebecca Stone (Dover, Mass.) at number one doubles, but Springfield took the remaining two matches to take a 2-1 overall lead. First-year Sam Carney (Franklin, Mass.) and senior captain Funmi Olowookere (Woonsocket, R.I.) claimed a close 9-8 (5) win at number two, while first-years Vanessa Senecal (Seekonk, Mass.) and Erin Woodbury (Yarmouth, Maine) earned an 8-4 win at three.

The Beavers mounted a big comeback in singles play, winning three of the first four matches to finish to take a 4-3 lead. Huang bounced back from an opening-set loss to win her match at one, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3, Stone cruised in her match at two, 6-1, 6-0, and first-year Mikaela Stamas (Northborough, Mass.) notched a 6-4, 7-5 victory at four. Springfield's lone win during that stretch came at five, where Woodbury claimed a 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 win.

Springfield tied the overall match by taking the closest of the four three-set singles matches on the day, as Carney outdueled Babson senior captain Lorena Becerra (Key Biscayne, Fla.), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) at number three. That left just Baez and Senecal on the court at number six, where Baez pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win to give Babson the overall 5-4 victory.

Babson returns to action on Sunday with a 10 a.m. match at Tufts, while Springfield resumes its schedule with a home match against Smith on Tuesday at 4 p.m.