NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—Senior Erin Gray (Oakland, Calif.) and sophomore Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) both finished with 11 kills and visiting Babson College hit .314 to defeat Smith College in four sets (25-19, 18-25, 25-15, 25-12) in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night inside Ainsworth Gymnasium. 

With the win, Babson improves to 21-4 overall and 8-1 in conference play. Smith has dropped two of its last three matches to slip to 15-10 overall and 5-4 in the NEWMAC. 

First-year Natalie Molendyk (Danville, Calif.) totaled 10 kills and three blocks, senior Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) added nine kills and first-year Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 39 assists to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) recorded 21 digs and junior Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) chipped in with nine digs and a match-high five service aces in the win. 

Sophomore Abby Hunt (Mandeville, La.) led all players with 14 kills, first-year Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) contributed 13 kills and three aces and senior Gabby Beckman (Berthoud, Colo.) finished with a match-high 24 digs to lead the Pioneers. Graduate student Meg Hopkins (Matthews, N.C.) dished out 19 assists and first-year Ruby Woodward (Winchester, Mass.) handed out 15 in the loss. 

Both teams led by as many as three in the opening set before the Green and White seized command with a eight-point run on the serve of Cabuena. Ackerman, Molendyk and Allen each recorded a kill and the Beavers took advantage of five attack errors by Smith to take a 20-15 edge en route to a first-set victory. 

The Pioneers responded by getting seven kills from Hunt and five from Sweeney while hitting .432 in game two to tie the match at a set apiece. Babson answered back with a strong third-set performance that included hitting .519 with 15 kills against just one error to seize control of the match. 

Molendyk had six kills and two blocks in the frame and Allen added four kills of her own as the Green and White used a 9-1 spurt to take a 15-7 lead that would not dip below seven the rest of the way. The teams split the first six points in the fourth set before the Beavers pulled away with another 9-1 burst that included kills from Gray and Allen and an ace by Stelter. 

Consecutive aces by sophomore Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) extended the margin to 16-6 and kills by McShane and Gray along with another ace from Stelter gave Babson its largest lead of the night at 24-11. 

The Beavers return to action on Friday when they host Assumption at 7 p.m., while Smith travels to Brandeis on Thursday at 6 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES
•    Babson is now 16-23 all-time against Smith and has won 12 of the last 14 matches in the series. 
•    The Beavers are 13-0 on the year when hitting at least .200 and Tuesday's .314 hitting percentage is their best since sweeping Gordon back on September 30. 
•    Babson had 12 aces in Wednesday's win and is now 12-1 this season when serving up 10 or more. 
•    The Beavers have won 37 of their last 38 matches when claiming the opening set.