CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Junior Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and first-year Julia Tolstova (Redlands, Calif.) combined for 21 kills while hitting .439 to help top-seeded and fourth-ranked MIT defeat fifth-seeded Babson College in three sets, 25-19, 25-22, 25-15, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon inside Rockwell Cage. 

Babson, which was making its 10th consecutive NEWMAC semifinal appearance, drops to 23-7. The Beavers entered the day ranked 35th in the Division III NPI and hopes to earn one of the final at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament when the rankings become final on Sunday afternoon. MIT, which is seeking a third consecutive conference title, improves to 31-0 overall. 

Senior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) led all players with 13 kills and six blocks, while classmate Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) tied for match-high honors with 17 digs to lead the Beavers. Junior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) put away nine kills, first-year Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) added six kills and sophomore Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) finished with 27 assists and three blocks in the loss. 

Tolstova registered a team-high 11 kills, Gibbs added 10 kills and senior Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) finished with eight kills, 11 digs and a match-high four service aces to lead the Engineers. Sophomore Kayleigh May (Camarillo, Calif.) handed out 31 assists and senior Ottavia Peroneni (Bethesda, Md.) recorded 17 digs in the win. 

The Green and White led 6-3 in the opening set but MIT hit .351 and scored nine of the final 12 points in the stanza to pull away from a 16-all deadlock. Gragg recorded a pair of kills and the hosts took advantage of three straight errors by the Beavers to open a 21-17 advantage, and Tolstova and Gibbs capped the run with back-to-back kills to end the set. 

Babson got out to a 5-3 lead in game two before the Engineers went on a 15-6 run to seize command. Four different players recorded a kill and May and graduate student Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) combined on a pair of blocks as the hosts stretched their advantage to 18-11. After cutting their deficit to three on three occasions, the Beavers pulled within 22-20 on an ace by first-year Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) but were unable to get any closer.

Gips provided three kills and was involved in three blocks to help the Green and White forge a 9-4 lead early in the third before MIT responded with a 15-2 run. Gragg served up a pair of aces and Tolstova recorded two kills during as part of a seven-point burst and Gibbs produced three kills during another stretch of eight straight points that gave the Engineers a 19-11 lead they would not relinquish. 

MATCH NOTES
•    Babson is now 3-8 all-time against MIT in the conference playoffs. 
•    Ackerman became just the second setter in program history to surpass 1,000 assists in a season on Saturday and now ranks second on the Beavers' single-season list with 1,020 this fall. 
•    Gips became just the second player to surpass 450 points in a season on Saturday while also moving into third place on the program's single-season blocks list with 94.