Women's Volleyball 10/7/2022 12:00:00 AM

Tri-Match Preview: No. 18 Women's Volleyball Set for Strong Tests Against Brandeis, Endicott on Saturday

No. 18 Women's Volleyball vs. Brandeis | 1 p.m.
at Endicott | 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 8 | MacDonald Gymnasium | Beverly, Mass.

THE SETUP
• No. 18 Babson steps away from conference play to take on two of New England's top teams on Saturday at Endicott.
• The Beavers open the day against Brandeis, which is ranked 14th in the latest NEWVA regional poll, before taking on the host Gulls, who checked in at No. 4 in the latest NEWVA rankings released on Thursday.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Brandeis
• The Beavers are 12-25 all-time against the Judges but have dominated the series as of late winning the last six matches between the teams.
• Babson defeated Brandeis in three sets last season (25-22, 25-8, 25-20).

vs. Endicott
• Babson is 11-10 all-time against the Gulls and have won four of the last five matches between the squads.
• The Beavers avenged a five-set regular-season loss to Endicott by rallying for a five-set victory over the Gulls (21-25, 25-20, 14-25, 25-21, 15-13) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament back in November of last season.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 18 Babson (16-1) extended its winning streak to 15 matches with a four-set (22-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-19) victory over Emerson on Tuesday night.
• First-year Isabella Allen had a season-high 16 kills, junior Lauren Gips added 12 kills and three blocks and graduate student Izzy Seebold contributed 46 assists, 13 digs and three service aces for the Beavers, who hit .242 over the final three sets.
• Allen is averaging a team-high 3.14 kills per set, Gips (2.79 k/s, 1.05 b/s) is hitting .355, and the duo of senior Laura Zuloaga and junior Lulu McShane have combined or 4.61 kills per set to go along with a .327 hitting percentage.
• Seebold is handing out 10.65 assists per set and first-year Roz Cabuena leads the team in both total digs (210) and digs per set (4.67).

SCOUTING THE JUDGES
• Brandeis (9-7) has dropped two straight matches and is coming off a 3-0 loss to Chicago last Sunday.
• Lara Verstovsek finished with 10 kills and 13 digs and Ines Grom-Mansencal dished out 21 assists for the Judges, who recorded their second lowest hitting percentage of the year (.054) against the Maroons.
• Verstovek is averaging 2.86 kills and 2.39 digs per set, graduate student Sydney Bent (2.71 k/s, 3.50 d/s) leads the team in digs, and first-year Anna Ertischek (2.62 k/s) is hitting a team-best .282 on the year.
• Grom-Mansencal is doling out 8.63 assists per set, while junior Ella Pereira is second on the team averaging 3.42 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE GULLS
• Endicott (11-3) has won six consecutive matches and is coming off a 3-1 victory over Salve Regina on Thursday night.
• Graduate student Amanda Gilbert led all players with 20 kills and first-year Ella Koelb chipped in with 23 assists and 15 digs for the Gulls, who hit a blistering .655 in the fourth set.
• Gilbert is averaging 3.30 kills and 2.83 digs per set, senior Krystina Schueler is contributing 2.16 kills per set, and graduate student Colleen McAvoy (1.85 k/s, 0.91 b/s) leads the team in blocks and boasts a .257 hitting percentage.
• Koelb and senior Lauren McGrath have combined to dish out 9.34 assists per set, while sophomore Emma Ruel is averaging a team-high 3.58 digs.

BABSON'S BEST STARTS
• At 16-1, the Beavers have matched the 2019 squad for the best 17-match start in program history.
• Babson's current 15-match winning streak also is the second longest in school history behind the 2019 team, which started 11-0 and followed up its only loss of the regular season with a program-best 22 consecutive victories on the way to finishing the year at 33-2.

GIPS COLLECTS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
• After totaling 20 kills against just three errors while hitting .500 in wins over WPI, Clark and Gordon, Gips was tabbed as the NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
• She averaged 2.86 kills, 1.29 blocks and 4.14 points per set to help the Beavers earn a trio of three-set sweeps.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Babson ranks 13th in Division III in opponent hitting percentage (.079) and none of its last 15 foes have hit better than .131.
• Four players recorded double-digit digs in Tuesday's win over Emerson – sophomore Tatum Stelter (20), Cabuena (17), junior Olivia Leinenweber (15) and Seebold (13) – as the Beavers finished with at least 80 digs for fourth time this season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers' 15-match winning streak is the second longest active streak in Division III behind only No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which handed them their only defeat back on September 2.
• Babson has hit .212 or better in seven consecutive matches and is averaging 12.35 kills per set during this stretch.
• The Beavers are 9-1 away from home this year while Endicott has won 29 of its last 32 matches at home.
• The Green and White has gone 26-5 in the month of October since 2019.

UP NEXT
• Babson hosts Wheaton inside Staake Gymnasium on Tuesday, October 11, at 7 p.m.

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