Women's Volleyball 9/30/2022 12:00:00 AM

Match Preview: No. 19 Women's Volleyball Hosts Clark and Gordon on Saturday

WHAT TO KNOW
• No. 19 Babson welcomes Clark and Gordon to Staake Gymnasium to for a tri-match on Saturday.
• The Beavers take on the Cougars at 11 a.m. before concluding the day against the Fighting Scots at 3 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Clark
• Babson is 16-20 all-time against the Cougars in a series that dates back to 1977.
• The Beavers have won four straight and 10 of their last 12 matches against the Cougars since 2011.
• Babson has beaten Clark in nine of the last 10 meetings between the programs inside Staake Gymnasium.

vs. Gordon
• The Beavers are 4-4 all-time against the Fighting Scots in a series that dates back to 1980.
• Babson has won three straight matches against Gordon, which includes a pair of three-set sweeps back in September 2010.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 19 Babson (13-1, 5-0 NEWMAC) stretched its winning streak to 12 with an easy three-set sweep of WPI on Tuesday night.
• Senior Laura Zuloaga and sophomore Lauren Griffin finished with five kills apiece and junior Lauren Gips added three kills and a match-high four blocks for the Beavers, who hit .303 in the win.
• First-year Isabella Allen ranks fifth in the conference in kills per set (3.08), Gips is averaging 2.67 kills and ranks second in the NEWMAC in blocks per set (1.09) and fourth in hitting percentage (.348), and junior Lulu McShane is contributing 2.43 kills per set to go along with a .298 hitting percentage.
• Graduate student Izzy Seebold is handing out a conference-best 10.68 assists per set, while first-year Roz Cabuena ranks fifth in the NEWMAC averaging 4.71 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Clark (9-6, 3-1 NEWMAC) has dropped two straight matches after suffering a 3-0 loss at Brandeis on Thursday night.
• Claudia Rivera had six kills, Margarita Perez Maza dished out 16 assists and Marimo Oka chipped in with 19 digs and two aces for the Cougars, who hit just .009 on the night.
• Rivera (3.49 k/s, .204 hitting pct.) ranks second in the NEWMAC in kills per set, junior Victoria Pastor (2.33 k/s) is hitting .247, and classmate Camille Flurry leads the team with 34 total blocks.
• Perez Maza and sophomore Yvanna Torres have combined to hand out 9.28 assists per set, while Oka ranks third in the league averaging 4.94 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING SCOTS
• Gordon (6-8) snapped a two-match skid by rallying from two sets down to defeat the University of New England, 3-2, on Wednesday night.
• Jordan Shaduk led four players in double figures with 16 kills and Valerie Nilan added 15 kills and seven blocks for the Fighting Scots, who hit a blistering .457 over the final three sets.
• Annie Murphy is averaging a team-high 2.57 kills per set, Nilan (2.55 k/s) is hitting a team-best .379, and Shaduk is contributing 1.89 kills per set.
• Kate Howe is dishing out 8.48 assists per set and leads the squad with 24 aces, while Nikki Batson is averaging 2.79 digs per game.

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Babson's current 13-match unbeaten streak ranks second in Division III behind only No. 1 Claremont Mudd Scripps, which handed the Beavers their only loss of the year back on September 2.
• Going back to 2017, the Beavers have won at least eight matches in a row in five consecutive seasons.

DIGGING IN
• The Green and White ranks ninth in Division III in opponent hitting percentage (.079) and is one of just three teams in the conference with at least four players averaging better than two digs per set in all matches.
• In addition to Cabuena's team-best 4.71 digs per set, sophomore Tatum Stelter is averaging 2.67 and senior Jordan Lapins and first-year Sophia Shaw are contributing 2.63 and 2.27 per set, respectively.

BEAVER BITES
• Zuloaga recorded the 500th kill of her career in Tuesday's win at WPI and now ranks 20th in program history with 502 for her career.
• Allen (3.09), Gips (2.56), junior Erin Gray (2.27), McShane (2.18) and Griffin (2.00) are all averaging at least two kills per set over the Beavers' first five conference matches.
• Babson ranks second in the league in kills per set (12.16) and third in hitting percentage (.205), points per set (16.27) and service aces per set (2.51).

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 4-0 this season and 48-4 since 2018 inside Staake Gymnasium.
• Babson has won all 11 matches fall when taking the first set.
• The Green and White has finished with more service aces than its opponents in 12 of the first 14 matches.
• The Beavers are 8-0 this season when hitting at a .200 clip or better.

UP NEXT
• Babson's welcomes Emerson to Staake Gymnasium on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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