BABSON PARK, Mass.—The trio of senior Erin Gray (Oakland, Calif.), junior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) and sophomore Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) combined for 25 kills as second-seeded Babson College defeated seventh-seeded Wheaton College in three sets, 25-16, 25-14, 25-15, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson, which has won four of its last five matches, improves to 24-5 overall and advances to the NEWMAC semifinals for the ninth consecutive tournament. Wheaton sees its season come to an end at 14-14. 

Gray led all players with nine kills, while Allen and Gips added eight kills apiece for the Beavers, who hit .329 on the night. First-year Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 23 assists to go along with two service aces and sophomore Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) recorded a match-high 15 digs in the victory. 

Sophomores Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) and Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) both registered six kills, senior Julianna Flack (St. Petersburg, Fla.) doled out 16 assists and first-year Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) contributed a team-high nine digs to pace the Lyons. 

Leading 8-7 early in the first, the Green and White got three straight kills from Gray, senior Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) and Allen followed by a block by McShane to extend its margin to five. Wheaton pulled within two five times before the Beavers closed with an 8-1 run that included two aces by Ackerman and a kill by Allen to close the stanza. 

The Lyons led for the early portion of game two and were within two at 12-10 after a kill by sophomore Julia Wingler (Fuqua Varina, N.C.) before Babson pulled way with an 13-4 spurt. The hosts, who hit .391 in the frame, got two kills apiece from Gray and first-year Natalie Molendyk (Danville, Calif.), and ace from senior Ruby Reich (Atlanta, Ga.), and took advantage of five errors by Wheaton to cruise to an 11-point victory and a two-set lead. 

The teams traded the first six points of the third before the Green and White took control by scoring eight of the next nine points. Gips had a kill and an ace to make it 8-4 and McShane and Gray followed with two kills apiece extending the margin to 12-4 forcing the Lyons to call timeout. 

The visitors responded with six of the next eight points to get as close as four before Babson went on a 7-1 run that included a kill and a block for both Gips and Gray and an ace by senior Olivia Leinenweber (Neptune Beach, Fla.) for a commanding 21-11 edge. 

Babson returns to action on Saturday when it faces third-seeded and 20th-ranked MIT at 3:30 p.m. in a NEWMAC semifinal at Springfield. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers are 22-32 all-time against Wheaton but have won six straight matches and 10 of their last 11 versus the Lyons. 
•    Babson is 2-2 all-time against the Lyons in the postseason although Tuesday's match was the first in the conference playoffs between the teams since 1995.
•    The Green and White is now 11-0 at home and improves to 15-0 when hitting .200 or better on the year. 
•    The Beavers have won seven consecutive NEWMAC quarterfinal matches going back to 2014.