CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Despite a career-high 19 kills from junior Lauren Gips (Orlando, Fla.), second-seeded Babson College suffered a four-set loss (25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23) to top-seeded MIT in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final on Sunday afternoon inside Rockwell Cage.

Babson, which is second in the latest NCAA Region II rankings, drops to 21-8 on the year and will have to wait until Monday at 1 p.m. to see if it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. No. 20 MIT (24-5) extended its winning streak to 10 matches while capturing her second consecutive NEWMAC title.

Senior Martina Jankovic Chin (Zapresic, Croatia) finished with 10 kills and five blocks, junior Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) contributed eight kills and senior Lauren MacDonald (Westwood, Mass.) added a career-high eight blocks for the Beavers. Graduate student Izzy Seebold (Concord, N.C.) dished out 37 assists and first-year Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) led all players with 17 digs.

Sophomore Lauren Keller (Albuquerque, N.M.) and junior Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) both had 11 kills and sophomore Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) added 10 for the Engineers, who hit .199 on the day. Junior Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.), who earned NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, handed out 44 assists, while first-year Daphne Gavros (Tiburon, Calif.) totaled 14 digs.

MIT never trailed in the opening set although the Green and White got as close as one four times, the last coming at 15-14 on a kill by Jankovic Chin. The margin was just two at 18-16 following a service error by Gavros before the Engineers got two kills and a service ace from Keller as part of a closing 7-3 spurt to take a one-set lead.

Babson responded with a strong game-two performance, hitting .281 and finishing with 13 kills and three aces to even the match. First-year Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Gips registered two kills apiece and the Beavers scored five straight points on the serve of sophomore Olivia Leinenweber (Neptune Beach, Fla.) to jump in front 10-3. MIT used three straight aces by junior Ashley Margetts (Brownsburg, Ind.) to trim the margin to 10-7 but would get no closer.

The Green and White got a kill from McShane and a block by MacDonald to take its biggest advantage of the stanza at 20-13 and used a pair of late kills by Gips to end the set after the hosts had pulled within four at 21-17.

The Engineers started game three with five straight points on the serve of Gavros only to see Babson rally to take its first lead of the set at 15-14 on a kill by Gips. MIT answered back though, scoring nine of the next 12 points and getting kills from four different players, including two each by Rozario and Edwards, to match its biggest advantage at 23-18. The Green and White staved off three straight set points to get within 24-22 before an error ended the game.

The Beavers led for much of the fourth set and matched their biggest lead at 19-14 on a kill by McShane. Allen followed up consecutive errors with a kill to make it 21-17 before the hosts surged to the finish line with an 8-2 run. Rozario and Edwards combined on a block to put the Engineers in front 22-21 and a kill by senior Alyssa Unell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) pushed the margin to 24-22. Jankovic Chin got Babson within one with a kill but Edwards ended the match with a kill on the ensuing point.

MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 3-7 all-time against MIT in conference tournament play.
• Prior to Sunday's loss, Babson had won all four of NEWMAC Tournament final appearances.
• The Beavers are 8-5 this season in four-set matches.
• Going back to 2014, the Green and White is 15-4 in NEWMAC Tournament matches.