PROVIDENCE, R.I.—No. 23 Babson College hit .301 as a team en route to recording three-set victories over RIT and Johnson & Wales University in non-conference volleyball action on Saturday afternoon inside the Wildcat Center.

The Beavers defeated the Tigers 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 in their opening match of the day and then dispatched the host Wildcats, 25-18, 25-17, 25-22. Babson has now won five straight matches to improve to 6-1 on the year. RIT suffered a pair of losses on Saturday to drop to 2-3, while Johnson & Wales is 1-3 on the season.

Babson 3, RIT 0
Junior Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) and first-year Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) tied for match-high honors with eight kills, junior Caroline Applewhite (Boca Raton, Fla.) led all players with 34 assists and first-year Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) finished with 10 digs to lead the Beavers. Senior Jordan Lapins (Calgary, Alberta) contributed six kills, classmates Lauren MacDonald (Westwood, Mass.) and Laura Zuloaga (Naples, Fla.) added five kills apiece and junior Olivia Leinenweber (Neptune Beach, Fla.) chipped in with six digs in the win.

Sophomore Liv Benard (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) finished with eight kills and eight digs, while junior Sydney Neff (Delmar, N.Y.) handed out 22 assists to lead the Tigers.

The Green and White hit a blistering .469 in the opening set and used a five-point run that included a block by McShane and Zuloaga, a kill by Lapins and two more by McShane to go in front 11-6. RIT got as close as 16-12 but Zuloaga responded with a kill and Applewhite served up consecutive aces to help push the lead back to eight.

Babson trailed for much of the second set before taking advantage of four straight miscues by the Tigers to take a 22-21 lead. McShane and senior Martina Jankovic Chin (Zapresic, Croatia) combined on a block to make it 23-21 and Lapins followed errors by both squads with a kill on match point to take a 2-0 advantage.

The Beavers put away 14 kills and hit .435 in the third while using two runs on the serve of Leinenweber to close out the match. Babson scored three straight points on her first turn to take a 15-10 lead and up 21-17 she produced an ace to go along with a kill by Lapins during a finishing four-point spurt.

Babson 3, Johnson & Wales 0
Allen and Zuloaga finished with seven kills apiece, MacDonald added six and the trio combined to hit .354 in the sweep over the Wildcats. McShane and Jankovic Chin also contributed five kills apiece, while junior Ruby Reich (Atlanta, Ga.) handed out a season-high 28 assists in the win.

Cabuena finished with a team-high nine digs to lead the defense and sophomore Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) recorded a match-high four service aces for the Green and White.

Junior Sarah Miller (Scarborough, Ontario) led all players with 11 kills, sophomore Kyra Hissner (Clinton, N.J.) doled out 17 assists and senior Emily Corbett (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) recorded a match-high 16 digs for Johnson & Wales.

The Beavers never trailed in the first set and used a 12-5 run to break away from a 9-9 deadlock in the second. Reich had two kills and an ace to make it 16-12, Zuloaga combined with Jankovic Chin on a block and contributed an ace, and MacDonald added a kill on the way to building a seven-point advantage.

Babson hit .345 for the second set in a row in the third and held off a late rally by the Wildcats to close out the match. Stelter gave the Beavers their largest lead of the stanza at 20-14 following an ace, but Johnson & Wales got as close as two on four occasions only to see Jankovic Chin, junior Erin Gray (Oakland, Calif.) and Allen answer with kills to finish off the sweep.

Babson returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Wellesley for its NEWMAC opener at 7 p.m.

MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 2-0 all-time against RIT and 3-7 versus Johnson & Wales, which includes victories in each of the last two seasons.
• Babson is 5-0 this season and 56-3 going back to 2019 when it wins the opening set.
• The Beavers are 65-2 since 2018 when holding their opponents to a hitting percentage of .150 or lower.
• The Green and White is 18-5 in road and neutral-court matches over the last two seasons.