Women's Volleyball at the New England Challenge
Friday, October 25 | vs. Williams | 7 p.m. | Staake Gymnasium 
Saturday, October 26 | vs. Tufts, 11 a.m. | vs. Middlebury 3:30 p.m. | Rockwell Cage | Cambridge, Mass. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The Babson women's volleyball team is set to compete in the ninth edition of the New England Challenge, which features three of the top programs in the NEWMAC taking on three of the best teams from the NESCAC on Friday and Saturday. 
•    The Beavers will host Williams on Friday night before heading to Cambridge for matches against Tufts and Middlebury inside MIT's Rockwell Cage on Saturday. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Williams
•    Babson is 3-8 all-time versus the Ephs in a series that dates back to 2002.
•    The teams have split their last four matches, which includes a four-set victory inside Staake Gymnasium back in 2019. 
•    Williams defeated the Beavers in four sets last October, 25-14, 25-14, 23-25, 25-15. 

vs. Tufts
•    Babson is 3-20 all-time against the Jumbos in a series that dates back to 1980.
•    The teams have split four matches since 2019, which includes each squad winning a five-set thriller. 
•    The Green and White defeated Tufts in four sets last season, 26-24, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18. 

vs. Middlebury
•    The Beavers are 3-6 all-time against the Panthers in a series that goes back to 2015. 
•    Babson has dropped three straight matches to Middlebury on the heels of recording straight-set victories in both 2018 and 2019. 
•    The Green and White suffered a 19-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-17 loss to the Panthers last fall. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (20-2) had its 16-match winning streak snapped in a 3-2 loss at Clark on Tuesday night in Worcester. 
•    Senior Lauren Gips matched her career high with 19 kills, sophomore Zoe Ackerman dished out 40 assists and senior Tatum Stelter led all players with 23 digs for the Beavers, who dropped the first two sets and matched their season low with four service aces. 
•    Gips (3.49 kills/set, 0.91 blocks/set) ranks third in Division III with a .429 hitting percentage and 37th averaging 4.49 points per set, junior Isabella Allen (3.19 k/s) is hitting a career-best .265 and sophomore Hailey Fouche is contributing 2.31 kills and 1.49 digs per set. 
•    Ackerman is 12th in Division III handing out 10.25 assists per set to go along with a team-high 51 service aces, while junior Sophia Shaw is averaging a team-high 4.36 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE EPHS
•    Williams (10-7) has dropped two of its last three matches and is coming off a five-set loss to Wesleyan last Friday. 
•    Keely Campuzano finished with 17 kills, Helen Qian added nine kills and five blocks, and Morgan Daetz contributed 43 assists and 10 digs for the Ephs, who were up 13-12 in the decisive fifth set. 
•    Campuzano (2.95 k/s) has recorded double-digit kills in six of the last seven matches, Tatum Baker (2.94 k/s, 2.80 digs/set) boasts a .245 hitting percentage and Annallese Fricke is contributing 2.85 kills per set. 
•    Daetz (7.09 ast/set, 2.42 d/s) has recorded six double-doubles in the last seven matches, while Sidra Wholwend is averaging a team-high 4.03 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE JUMBOS
•    Tufts (9-9) has dropped back-to-back matches and is coming off a 3-0 setback against Bowdoin last Saturday. 
•    Emma Heckman totaled eight kills, Claire Castor added six kills and Rianna Liu finished with 17 assists and 13 digs for the Jumbos, who hit just .083 and matched their season low with four service aces. 
•    Heckman (2.69 k/s) owns a .224 hitting percentage, Castor is averaging 2.39 kills and 2.27 digs per set, and Maiwenn Kamdje is contributing 2.14 kills per set and hitting .295 on the year. 
•    Julia Griffiths ranks 18th in Division III averaging 1.17 blocks per set, Liu and Ellery Clark have combined to dish out 9.94 assists per set, and  Dylan Whisenant is contributing a team-best 2.87 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
•    Middlebury (13-5) enters the weekend having won 12 of its last 13 matches after defeating Wesleyan in four sets last Saturday. 
•    Molly Harrison finished with 24 kills and 22 digs, Gabby Pribisich added 13 kills and two blocks and Gabbie O'Toole recorded 48 assists and 14 digs for the Panthers, who hit .219 in the victory. 
•    Harrison is averaging 3.87 kills and 3.49 digs per set, Lauren Baxter is contributing 2.28 kills per set and Ava Tuccio (2.14 k/s, 0.82 b/s) is hitting a team-best .302. 
•    O'Toole is handing out 9.65 assists per set and is second on the team with 27 service aces, while Annabella Rando is averaging a team-high 4.31 digs per set. 

NEW ENGLAND CHALLENGE HISTORY
•    Babson is 9-14 all-time in the New England Challenge, which was started back in 2015. 
•    The Green and White went 3-0 in 2019 and has won at least one match in all but two seasons (2017, 2022). 
•    The Beavers are 4-1 inside Staake Gymnasium, which includes wins over Williams in 2015 and 2019, and 3-7 inside MIT's Rockwell Cage. 

MOVIN' ON UP
•    Ackerman, who is just 25 assists shy of last year's total of 814, has 1,603 assists in 53 career matches and passed Angela Price '16 for fifth place on the program's all-time list on Tuesday at Clark. 
•    One of just four players in program history with at least 800 points, 600 kills and 200 blocks, Gips now ranks eighth on Babson's career list in blocks (22), 10th in points (875.5) and 11th in kills (656). 
•    Stelter ranks fourth in Babson history with 185 service aces and is currently 11th all-time with 1,035 digs. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Allen has registered at least 12 kills in three straight matches and five of her last six outings going back to October 8.
•    Fouche, who had a career-high 15 digs in Tuesday's loss at Clark, has recorded three consecutive double-doubles and has at least 10 kills in four straight contests. 
•    Gips has put away 15 or more kills in three straight matches and has finished with at least 10 kills in 15 of the Beavers' last 17 outings dating back to September 7. 
•    Senior Lauren Griffin contributed a season-high nine digs in Tuesday's loss at Clark. 
•    Ackerman has handed out at least 30 assists in 13 straight matches. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers rank 14th in Division III in hitting percentage (.255) and are 21st in aces per set (2.96). 
•    Babson is 6-2 this season in four- and five-set matches. 
•    The Green and White is 15-1 on the year and 56-3 over the last three seasons when winning the first set. 
•    The Beavers are 32-0 going back to the start of the 2023 campaign when their opponents hit .150 or below. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson returns to conference play when it hosts Smith on Tuesday at 7 p.m.