WORCESTER, Mass.---Visiting Babson College rallied from two sets down to force a decisive fifth game before falling 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 23-25, 15-10 to Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night inside the Kneller Athletic Center. 

Babson, which had its 16-match winning streak snapped by Clark for the second consecutive season, is now 20-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play. The Cougars improve to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the NEWMAC with its third five-set victory of the year. 

Senior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) matched her career high with 19 kills and led all players with five blocks, sophomore Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) finished with 14 kills and a career-high 15 digs, and junior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) added 12 kills to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) dished out 40 assists, senior Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) led all players with 23 digs and first-year Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) contributed a season-high 17 digs in the loss. 

Graduate student Victoria Pastor (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led all players with 26 kills and added 14 digs, Classmate Sofia Scherrer del Llano (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) contributed 10 kills and three blocks, and senior Yvanna Torres (San Juan, Puerto Rico) handed out 32 assists and had 11 digs to lead the Cougars. 

The opening set featured six ties and three lead changes before Clark used a 6-1 closing run that included back-to-back service aces by sophomore Julia Dopazo (Miami, Fla.) to break a 19-all tie. The Green and White was down just two midway through game two before the hosts went on a 7-3 spurt to build their largest lead of the stanza at 22-16 on a kill by senior Emily Newman (Rive Edge, N.J.) on the way to taking a two-set advantage. 

The Beavers dominated the third setting getting out to a 5-0 lead on the serve of Stelter while hitting .519 and recording 16 kills to stay alive. Game four featured 19 ties and 12 lead changes with neither team leading by more than two at any point. The Cougars got a pair of kills around an attack error by the visitors to go in front 21-19 before Babson countered with four straight points, which included back-to-back blocks by Ackerman and first-year Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) to regain a 23-21 lead. 

Pastor registered a pair of kills by the Cougars followed up each one with a service ace allowing the Beavers to force a decisive fifth set. 

The Green and White never led in the final stanza as the hosts put away 10 kills and .259. The Beavers cut a four-point deficit to 11-10 on a kill by Gips only to see Pastor answer with consecutive kills to help Clark score the final four points of the match. 

Both teams return to action on Friday as Babson hosts Williams to begin the New England Challenge at 7 p.m., while the Cougars visit Trinity at 6 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 18-20 all-time against Clark and have dropped consecutive meetings on the road to the Cougars. 
•    Babson had won seven of its previous eight five-set matches before Tuesday's night's loss.
•    The Beavers, who came into the match averaging 3.11 aces per set, matched their season low with just four against Clark. 
•    Fouche has recorded double-digit kills and digs in three consecutive matches.