WORCESTER, Mass.—Junior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished with a team-high 15 kills and senior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) added 14 kills and a match-high six blocks to help fifth-seeded Babson College defeat fourth-seeded Clark University in four sets, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night inside the Kneller Athletic Center. 

With the win, Babson improves to 23-6 and advances to the NEWMAC semifinals for the 10th consecutive season. Clark, which was hosting its first postseason match since 2016, sees its season come to a close at 14-12. 

Sophomore Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) recorded 37 assists, 13 digs and three blocks, while junior Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) led all players with 19 digs for the Beavers. Sophomore Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) had seven kills and four blocks, first-year Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) chipped in with five kills and four blocks, and first-year Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) added 11 digs in the victory. 

Graduate student Victoria Pastor (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led all players with 16 kills to go along with 11 digs and three blocks, while classmate Sofia Scherrer del Llano (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) contributed nine kills and 13 digs to pace the Cougars. Senior Yvanna Torres (San Juan, Puerto Rico) handed out 20 assists and led four players in double figures with 18 digs in the loss. 

The opening set featured 13 ties and seven lead changes with neither team leading by more than four. The Green and White took a 19-18 advantage on a kill by Holm and went back in front 22-21 on a block by Gips before Clark scored four of the final five points to steal the game. Scherrer del Llano tied it with a kill, Pastor broke a 23-all tie with another kill and junior Yumeng Liu (Beijing, China) finished off the stanza with an ace. 

Three kills from Gips helped the Beavers forge an early 8-3 lead in game two. The Cougars got as close as two on three occasions, the last coming at 16-14 before the visitors closed with a 9-3 run that included aces by Ackerman and Cabuena and kills by Holm, senior Lauren Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) and Gips to even the match. 

Babson never trailed in game three but had to fend off a late rally by the hosts to take a one-set advantage. Fouche and Holm combined on a block to make it 10-6 and Allen provided two kills after Clark had closed within two to give the Green and White its largest lead of the frame at 18-13. The Cougars pulled even at 21 on a service error but Gips put away a kill and the hosts made back-to-back errors as the Beavers opened a 24-21 edge that it would not relinquish. 

The teams were never separated by more than three points in a tightly-contested fourth seat that featured 10 ties and two lead changes. Pastor's kill gave Clark its largest lead at 20-17 and then got the hosts within a point of forcing a fifth set with another kill before the Beavers went on a late 6-1 run to end the match. Allen started the rally with a kill and followed up a block by Fouche and Holm with another to put Babson in front 25-24. Pastor momentarily stopped the run with her final kill of the night but Ackerman set up Allen and Fouche to finish off a two-point win.

Babson returns to action on Saturday when it travels to fourth-ranked and top-seeded MIT for a NEWMAC semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers, who snapped a two-match losing streak in the series, is now 20-22 all-time against Clark and 4-0 in the conference playoffs versus the Cougars.
•    Babson, which had not been on the road for the quarterfinals since 2012, recorded its first NEWMAC quarterfinal win away from home since 1993 on Tuesday night. 
•    Gips passed Allie Puccio '21 M'22 for second place on the program's single-season list with 441.0 points. 
•    The Beavers held Clark to a .122 hitting percentage and are now 15-0 this season when their opponents hit below .150.