WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—The Babson College women's volleyball team concluded play at the New England Challenge with four-set losses to Williams College and Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon. 

The Beavers, who are now 20-4 on the year, dropped a 25-14, 25-14, 23-25, 25-15 decision to host Ephs and suffered a 19-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-17 setback to the Panthers. The Green and White, which defeated Tufts on Friday night, went 1-2 in the event. 

Williams 3, Babson 1
Senior Erin Gray (Oakland, Calif.) matched her career high with 18 kills, first-year Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 22 assists and sophomore Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) led all players with 22 digs for the Beavers. Senior Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) contributed seven kills and junior Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) chipped in with 10 digs in the loss. 

Senior Celia Adams (Houston, Texas) totaled 17 kills and nine digs, while first-year Keely Campuzano (Excelsior, Minn.) finished with 16 digs to lead the Ephs. Senior Lauren Kauppila (New York, N.Y.) dished out 29 assists and junior Sidra Wohlwend (Henderson, Nev.) led three players in double figures with 21 digs. 

Williams (12-8) built early leads in each of the first two frames and hit .338 to forge a two-set advantage. Babson trailed by as many as five in the third before going on an 8-1 run that included two kills apiece by Gray and McShane to forge a 15-11 lead. The Ephs pulled even on a kill by Adams but the Green and White answered with kills by senior Olivia Leinenweber (Neptune Beach, Fla.) and McShane coupled with an attack error by the hosts to go back up 22-20.

McShane's fifth kill of the set put Babson in front for good at 24-23 and she followed it with a service ace at set point to extend the match. Williams seized command of the stanza thanks to an opening 10-2 run and ripped off five straight points after the Beavers had closed to within 17-14 to close out its victory.  

Middlebury 3, Babson 1
Sophomore Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) registered a team-high nine kills, McShane finished with eight kills and three blocks and Leinenweber added a career-high eight kills to go along with three service aces for the Green and White. Ackerman doled out 30 assists and Cabuena contributed a match-high 17 digs and three aces. 

First-year Molly Harrison (Tiburon, Calif.) hit .436 and totaled 21 kills and 16 digs, while senior Katie Kraczkowsky (Chicago, Ill.) added 15 kill and hit at a .33 clip to lead the Panthers. Junior Gabbie O'Toole (Overland Park, Kan.) handed out 41 assists and chipped in with 12 digs in the victory. 

Leinenweber provided four kills, a block and an ace, Gray added two kills and McShane contributed a kill and a service ace to help the Green and White build a 14-8 opening-set lead. Middlebury (14-6) scored five times in the span of six points to get as close as two at 20-18 before Babson responded with kills from Ackerman, McShane and Gray as part of a closing 5-1 spurt to win game one. 

The Panthers dominated the second and third sets totaling 25 kills while making just one error and hitting .500 as a team to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Babson trailed 10-3 to open the fourth but used a kill by Allen, an ace by Leinenweber and a trio of blocks involving McShane to cut its deficit to 12-10. 

Another block by junior Lauren Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) and first-year Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) made it 15-13 before Middlebury answered with a 7-1 run that included three kills from Kraczkowsky to finish off the win. 

Babson returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Smith at 7 p.m. 

TOURNAMENT NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 3-8 all-time against Williams and 3-7 versus Middlebury. 
•    Saturday's loss to Middlebury marked the first time in 37 matches that Babson dropped a match after winning the first set. 
•    Gray averaged 3.60 kills per set and Cabuena contributed 5.58 digs per set in three matches over the weekend at the New England Challenge. 
•    McShane has produced at least three total blocks in three of the last four matches.