BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior
Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) matched her season high with 18 kills to go along with four blocks and three service aces to help Babson College defeat visiting Mount Holyoke College in four sets, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night inside of Staake Gymnasium.
With its 12th consecutive victory, Babson improves to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. Mount Holyoke has dropped its last five matches to slip to 8-7 overall and 0-5 in the NEWMAC.
Junior
Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) provided 14 kills and a career-high 15 digs, sophomore
Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) dished out 44 assists and senior
Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) contributed a season-best 24 digs to lead the Beavers. Sophomore
Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) chipped in with eight kills, eight digs and four blocks, while first-year
Emma Watts (Northport, N.Y.) finished with a season-high six kills in the win.
Junior Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) recorded 12 kills, senior Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) provided 10 kills and nine digs, and junior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) dished out 31 assists to pace the Lyons. Sophomore Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) finished with 23 digs and three aces in the loss.
The opening set featured 15 ties and nine lead changes with the teams never separated by more than three points. Mount Holyoke went in front for good thanks to back-to-back kills by junior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) and Berclaz, and Rimando followed up an ace by Staples with a kill of her own to close out the game.
The Green and White was down as many as four early the second but scored four straight points to pull even and then forged an 18-16 lead on a kill by Allen and an ace by Ackerman. The Lyons answered with a 7-3 run to go back in front 23-21 on kill by Barton before the Beavers used a kill from Gips and three errors by the visitors to even the match at a set apiece.
The third set was deadlocked at 13 before Babson closed the stanza on a 12-4 run that included four kills by Allen and five service aces by four different players, which includes two by first-year
Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas). The hosts hit a blistering .467 while recording 16 kills in the frame.
The Beavers trailed 6-1 early in the fourth but responded with a 10-3 spurt to go in front on an ace by Allen. Mount Holyoke pulled even on six occasions, the last coming at 17-17 before the hosts ran off seven consecutive points. Wats started the run with a block, Gips and Fouche combined on for a block on the next point and Watts ended a long rally with a kill to force a timeout.
Fouche and Gips then both produced a pair of kills out of the break to put the match away.
Babson returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Rivier for a tri-match beginning at 11 a.m., while Mount Holyoke hosts Hartford on Friday at 6 p.m.
MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 22-16 all-time against Mount Holyoke and have won 13 straight matches in the series.
• Babson is now 4-0 this fall when dropping the first set.
• The Green and White hit .235 in Tuesday's win and has now finishing with a hitting percentage of .200 or better in 10 of its last 11 matches.
• The Beavers' 12-match winning streak its their fourth longest dating back to 2016.
