CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—No. 19 MIT rallied to win a tight opening set before pulling away to defeat visiting Babson College, 3-0 (26-24, 25-11, 25-18) in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night at Rockwell Cage.

Babson, which has dropped its last four matches, falls to 19-6 overall and 8-1 in league play, while MIT improves to 21-5 overall and 9-0 in the NEWMAC with its seventh consecutive victory. The Engineers also wrapped up the top seed and at least a share of the regular season conference title with the win.

Junior Lauren Gips (Orlando, Fla.) finished with eight kills and two blocks, while first-year Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) added five kills for Beavers. Graduate student Izzy Seebold (Concord, N.C.) handed out 20 assists and sophomore Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) led all players with 15 digs.

Sophomore Lauren Keller (Albuquerque, N.M.) hit .476 and registered match-highs of 12 kills and four service aces, while senior Alyssa Unell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) added six kills and three blocks to pace the Engineers. Junior Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) dished out 26 assists and sophomore Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) recorded 11 digs in the victory.

Game one featured eight ties and two lead changes with neither team leading by more than four. The Green and White trailed 9-6 before scoring five of the next six points to go in front for the first time at 11-10 on an ace by Stelter. Kills by Allen and senior Martina Jankovic Chin (Zapresic, Croatia) along with an ace from Seebold extended the Beavers' advantage to 19-15 before the hosts scored four straight points on the serve of first-year Daphne Gavros (Tiburon, Calif.) as part of a 6-1 run for a 21-20 lead.

Two kills by Keller pushed the MIT edge to 24-22 but Babson took advantage of an error and got a block from GIps and Seebold to pull even. The Engineers regained a one-point lead on a kill by junior Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) and used an errors by the Beavers to end the set.

The hosts cruised through game two jumping out to a 17-4 lead and putting away 11 kills for a 2-0 advantage. Three kills by sophomore Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) and a pair of aces by Keller staked the Engineers to a seven-point bulge early in the third but Babson chipped away and used aces by three different players and two kills by Jankovic Chin to cut its deficit to 16-14.

Keller responded with two more aces and a pair of kills in the span of five points to stretch the margin back to 21-14 and the Beavers were unable to get closer than four the rest of the way.

Both teams conclude the regular season on Saturday as Babson hosts Smith at 1 p.m. while MIT takes on Coast Guard at 12 p.m.

MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 7-6 against MIT since 2013.
• Babson is just 3-6 this season when dropping the opening set.
• The Beavers hit .000 (23 kills, 23 errors) in Tuesday's loss and recorded their lowest hitting percentage since September 1, 2018, in a three-set loss to Division II Lynn (Fla.).
• Stelter has now registered 15 or more digs in six of the last nine matches going back to October 4.