DARTMOUTH, Mass.—First-year Allison Molendyk (Danville, Calif.) led all players with 12 kills and classmate Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) contributed a season-high 28 assists and seven digs to help Babson College record a three-set victory (25-21, 25-19, 25-16) over Roger Williams University at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational inside the Tripp Athletic Center on Friday night. 

With its third consecutive win, Babson improves to 6-1 on the year. Roger Williams dips to 3-4 overall with the loss. 

Senior Erin Gray (Oakland, Calif.) registered 11 kills, while classmate Lulu McShane (Glencoe, Ill.) and sophomore Lilly Steiner (Hingham, Mass.) added seven kills apiece for the Beavers, who hit .263 on the night. Junior Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) tied for match-high honors with 12 digs and sophomore Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) chipped in with a season-high 10 digs. 

Sophomore Kaylee Jackson (Naugatuck, Conn.) finished with nine kills and eight digs, junior Ava Mattiucci (North Kingstown, R.I.) dished out 21 assists and first-year Marianna Hernandez (Norwalk, Conn.) recorded 12 digs to lead the Hawks. 

The Green and White jumped out to a 10-2 lead and were up as many as nine in the opening set before Roger Williams used an 11-2 spurt to pull even at 21-21 on a kill by Jackson. The Beavers responded though, getting kills from seniors Caroline Applewhite (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Olivia Leinenweber (Neptune Beach, Fla.) and taking advantage of two errors by the Hawks to close out the stanza. 

Game two featured 11 ties and five lead changes before Babson pulled away late by scoring eight of the final 10 points. Consecutive kills by Molendyk and Steiner gave the Beavers a 19-18 lead, Molendyk pushed the margin to three with another kill and Stelter served up back-to-back aces to make it 23-18. 

The third set followed a similar script as the Green and White got kills from Steiner and McShane and an ace from Leinenweber as a part of a five-point run that extended its lead to 19-13. Jackson got Roger Williams back within five with her final kill of the match but Gray sandwiched kills around a service ace by Ackerman as the Beavers five of the last six points to finish off the victory. 

Both teams are back in action on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. as Babson faces UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth, while Roger Williams takes on Mount Holyoke and UMass Boston. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers are 11-10 all-time against Roger Williams and have won four straight matches in the series. 
•    Babson is 57-4 in three-set matches since 2019, a number that includes each of its six wins this season.
•    The Hawks hit just .060 on Friday night helping the Green and White improve to 5-0 this season when its foes finish with a hitting percentage of .150 or lower. 
•    The Beavers' 42 kills are their second highest total of the season behind only the 49 they recorded in a three-set sweep of Dean on September 1.