WELLESLEY, Mass.—Junior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) and senior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) combined for 35 kills as visiting Babson College rallied for a four-set victory (23-25, 25-23, 33-31, 25-21) over Wellesley College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night inside the Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. 

With its eighth straight win, Babson improves to 12-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Wellesley is now 6-3 overall and 1-2 in the NEWMAC. 

Allen registered a career-high 18 kills, Gips hit .485 and recorded 17 kills while matching her season high with eight blocks to pace the Beavers. Sophomore Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 50 assists, junior Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) finished with 23 digs and first-year Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) added a career-high 17 digs in the win. 

Sophomore Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) recorded 18 kills, 16 digs and three blocks, first-year Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) contributed 21 assists, 18 digs and five kills, and sophomore Noelle Winn (San Francisco, Calif.) added 18 assists and 10 digs to lead the Blue. First-year Ella Mancuso (North Andover, Mass.) had 11 kills and junior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) led all players with 24 digs in the loss. 

 The Green and White rallied from an early four-point deficit and got back-to-back kills from Allen and an attack error by the hosts to take its largest lead of game one at 22-17. Sophomore Evelyn Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) recorded a kill to spark a seven-point run that included three aces by Else Kunze-Hoeg and provided another kill at set point to complete the Wellesley rally. 

The Beavers trailed 15-12 in the second before going on an 8-2 run that included four kills by Allen to go in front 20-17. The Blue tied things up at 23 on a ace by Winn, but she followed it up with a service error and Gips and Ackerman combined on a block to even the match at a set apiece with a two-point victory. 

Wellesley led by as many as five and held a 23-19 advantage late in a third set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes. Sophomore Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.), classmate Nora Whitehurst (Atlanta, Ga.) and Allen recorded kills with Babson facing set point and Gips and first-year Sofia Ibarra (Coral Gables, Fla.) produced back-to-back kills with the stanza deadlocked at 31 to help the Green and White close out the set. 

Game four featured nine ties and six lead changes with neither team leading by more than four. The Blue rattled off six consecutive points to go in front 19-16 only to see the Beavers respond with a 9-2 closing run. Ackerman and Gips combined on a block to put the visitors ahead 21-20, Allen followed with a kill and Frosk contributed a service ace after another block by Allen and Gips to make it 24-20. 

The Green and White recorded 59 kills and hit .198 while holding Wellesley to a .134 hitting percentage on the night. 

Babson returns to action on Friday when it hosts Saint Michael's at 7 p.m., while Wellesley travels to Brandeis on Saturday at 12 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers have won six consecutive matches and 10 of the last 12 contests against Wellesley going back to 2014. 
•    The 33-31 scoreline in the third set is Babson's highest scoring stanza since the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament when it dropped game three to Clarkson 33-31 before rallying for a five-set win.
•    Babson has won 30 straight matches when holding its opponents to a hitting percentage of .150 or lower. 
•    The Beavers are 3-0 this season when losing the first set.