BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Martina Jankovic Chin (Zapresic, Croatia) recorded a career-high 17 kills but Babson College was unable to rally after dropping the first two games and suffered a 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 20-25, 30-28) loss to visiting Smith College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Saturday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.

With the loss, Babson concludes the regular season at 19-7 overall and 8-2 in league play, and will enter the NEWMAC Tournament as the second seed. Smith, which secured the fifth seed, improves to 20-8 overall and 5-5 in league play.

Jankovic Chin added four blocks, while senior Laura Zuloaga (Naples, Fla.) and junior Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) added six kills apiece for the Beavers. Zuloaga also recorded a season-high five service aces, graduate student Izzy Seebold (Concord, N.C.) had a double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs, and first-year Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) led all players with 16 digs in the loss.

First-year Abby Hunt (Mandeville, La.) registered 12 kills and senior Ava Zollinger (Orlando, Fla.) added nine kills and four blocks to pace the Pioneers. First-year Miranda Oakes (San Francisco, Calif.) led all players with five blocks, while first-year Sophia Padilla (Fontana, Calif.) finished with 40 assists and 13 digs in the win.

The Green and White led for much of an opening set that featured nine ties and three lead changes before Smith prevailed with a late rally. Down as many as four midway through the stanza, the Pioneers pulled even on a kill by Zollinger and took a 23-21 lead thanks to consecutive kills by first-year Sarah Dankovich (El Paso, Texas). Zuloaga and Jankovic Chin combined for a block to pull Babson even before the visitors got a kill from first-year Mia Moscicki (Medford Lakes, N.J.) which was followed by an error by the Beavers to close out the set.

Smith led wire-to-wire in game two as it took advantage of 13 attack errors by Babson en route to an eight-point victory. The Green and White trailed for the early portion of the third set but was able to rally by hitting .400 and putting away 19 kills.

A kill by Jankovic Chin and two more by junior Erin Gray (Oakland, Calif.) gave the hosts a 16-13 lead. The Pioneers got as close as 18-16 on a kill by Moscicki but McShane answered with four kills in the span of six points to extend the margin to 24-17 and force a fourth set.

Game four featured 14 ties and five lead changes with neither team leading by more than four. Babson was up 19-16 after a kill by Jankovic Chin but Smith scored six of the next nine points, which included a pair of kills by first-year Olivia Teske (Minneapolis, Minn.) to pull even at 22-22.

Zuloaga's fifth ace of the match got the Beavers within a point of forcing a decisive fifth set but Smith answered with a kill by Zollinger and two more from Hunt to go in front 26-25. Babson fended off three straight match points to pull even on a block by Zuloaga and Seebold, but Oakes answered with a block of her own and the Pioneers used an error by the hosts on their fourth match point to secure the victory.

Both teams will return to action on Tuesday night with NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal action at 7 p.m. as Babson hosts seventh-seeded Clark, while Smith travels to fourth-seeded Emerson.

MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 15-23 all-time against Smith although Saturday's loss was their first to the Pioneers since 2013.
• Sophomore Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) finished with one service ace on Saturday to extend her streak to 12 straight matches with at least one.
• Seebold now has 660 assists on the year, which is good for 13th place on the program's single-season list.