Women's Volleyball vs. Framingham State | 1 p.m. 
vs. Dean | 5 p.m. 
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    Babson will open the 2023 season with home matches against Framingham State and Dean on Friday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Framingham State
•    The Beavers are 25-4 all-time against the Rams in a series that dates back to 1978. 
•    Babson has won its last four matches against Framingham State, including a 3-0 sweep in 2017, although the teams have met just twice over the last decade. 

vs. Dean
•    First meeting

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (0-0) brings back three of its top four hitters and four veteran defensive specialists among a group of 12 returners from a team that went 23-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. 
•    Senior Lauren Gips (2.79 kills/set, 0.95 blocks/set) hit at a .321 clip, sophomore Isabella Allen averaged 2.65 kills per set and senior Lulu McShane put away 2.21 kills per set while hitting .256. 
•    Senior setters Caroline Applewhite and Ruby Reich have both dished out more than 650 assists over the last two seasons, sophomore Roz Cabuena averaged a team-high 4.34 digs per set and junior Tatum Stelter finished first on the squad in total digs (320) and second in digs per set (3.14). 

SCOUTING THE RAMS
•    Framingham State (0-0) returns seven players, including reigning MASCAC Player of the Year Anna Szymanksi, from a team that went 17-12 and claimed its first regular season conference title since 2016 last fall. 
•    Szymanski averaged a team-high 3.30 kills and 2.71 digs per set, while junior Hailey Sanders (2.64 k/s) had a .281 hitting percentage and led the team with 50 total blocks in 2022. 
•    Sophomore Stella Bailey dished out a team-high 4.31 assists per set and sophomore Carly Beaulieu ranked third on the squad dishing out 2.63 digs per set. 
•    The Rams were chosen to finish second in the MASCAC preseason poll.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
•    Dean (0-0) brings back 12 players from a team that went 6-23 last season. 
•    Senior Sari Albury (2.26 k/s) finished the year with a .222 hitting percentage and led the team with 71 total blocks, while junior Emily Larouche contributed 1.26 kills and 2.04 digs per set. 
•    Senior Bella Driscoll dished out a team-high 5.30 assists per set and sophomore Skylar Raskevitz led the defense with 261 digs while average 2.61 digs per set last fall. 
•    The Bulldogs were picked to finish 13th among 16 squads in the GNAC preseason poll. 

OPENING STATEMENT
•    The Beavers have opened the season with a victory in seven consecutive seasons going back to 2015, which includes rallying from two sets down to defeat Cal Lutheran 3-2 last year.
•    The Green and White has also won six straight home openers dating back to 2016.

POLL POSITION
•    After reaching its first conference tournament final since 2019 last November, Babson was picked to finish second behind defending champions MIT when the NEWMAC released its preseason coaches' poll last week. 
•    The Engineers totaled 119 points and the Beavers, who finished second in the regular season standings in 2022, totaled 105 points. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Cabuena and senior Olivia Leinenweber both recorded at least seven digs in all five Babson's postseason matches and combined to average 6.31 digs per set in the conference and NCAA Tournament contests. 
•    Gips averaged 3.00 kills and 1.13 blocks per set, while McShane was second on the team in kills (46) and put away 2.42 kills per set during the 2022 postseason. 

HOME SWEET HOME
•    The Green and White have been dominant inside Staake Gymnasium under the direction of 13th-year coach Eric Neely posting a 115-16 record, which is good for an .878 winning percentage dating back to 2011. 
•    Babson went 9-2 at home last fall and are 63-7 going back to the start of the 2017 campaign. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers went 19-0 in 2022 when taking the first set. 
•    Babson was 15-1 last fall when hitting .200 or better. 
•    The Green and White has gone 25-2 in the month of September over the last two seasons.
•    The Beavers have recorded more kills than their opponents in 44 of their 45 wins since the start of last year. 

UP NEXT
•    The Beavers travel to the NYU Invitational to face the fourth-ranked Violets, Amherst and Stockton on September 8-9 in New York City.