BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) finished with double-digit kills in both matches and Babson College hit .289 as a team on the way to recording victories over Brandeis University and Endicott College in non-conference women's volleyball action on Saturday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium. 

The Beavers swept the Judges, 25-16, 25-18, 25-16, and then rallied for 3-1 win (30-32, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20) win over the Gulls. 

Babson, which has won five consecutive matches, improves to 9-1 on the year. Brandeis is now 8-5 while Endicott drops to 6-5. 

Babson 3, Brandeis 0
Gips hit a blistering .684 and tied for match-high honors with 13 kills, while senior Lauren Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) and junior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) registered nine kills apiece to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) dished out 29 assists and had two service aces, while junior Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) finished with a team-high 11 digs in the win. 

Senior Lara Verstovsek (Houston, Texas) put away 13 kills and added six digs to lead Brandeis. 

Griffin, Allen and first-year Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) each contributed two kills as the Green and White built a quick 12-5 lead in the opening set. The Judges closed within five on three occasions but Babson used two kills and ace from Gips, another kill by Griffin and a block by Holm to extend the margin to 21-11. 

Brandeis led 14-10 in game two before the Beavers ripped off a 15-4 run to grab a two-set advantage. Gips and Allen combined for five kills to put the hosts in front 18-16, junior Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) followed up a kill by Griffin with an ace to make it 23-17, and sophomore Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) finished off the stanza with back-to-back kills. 

The Judges scored five consecutive points to take a 10-9 lead in the third only to see Babson respond with 13 of the next 16 points to pull away. Gips had three kills as part of a six-point burst that made it 15-10 and first-year Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) served up back-to-back aces during another six-point spurt that stretched the Babson lead to 22-13. 

Babson 3, Endicott 1
Allen led four players in double figures with a season-high 15 kills, Gips, who recorded a match-high eight blocks and Griffin added 11 kills apiece, and Fouche hit .429 and chipped in with 10 kills to lead a Beavers' offense that hit .301. Ackerman handed out 40 assists to go along with three blocks, Shaw had a team-high 16 digs and sophomore Nora Whitehurst (Atlanta, Ga.) contributed a season-high four blocks in the victory. 

Sophomore Hadley Helenbrook (Atlanta, Ga.) led all players with 20 kills, first-year Ava Grace Dresback (Pawcatuck, Conn.) put away 13 kills and classmate Hannah Maguire (San Jose, Calif.) finished with match highs of 43 assists and 18 digs for the Gulls in a losing effort. 

The opening set featured 16 ties and seven lead changes with neither team leading by more than four. Babson kept the game alive four times at set point and Endicott fended off three set points by the hosts, the last coming at 30-29 before taking advantage of back-to-back kills by senior Megan Murphy (Danvers, Mass.) and Dresback and a service ace by Ruel for a 32-30 victory. 

The Green and White led by as many as four midway through the second set before Whitehurst sparked a three-point run with a kill for an 18-15 advantage. Gips and Allen each provided a kill around a pair of errors by the visitors to make it 24-20 and Allen tacked on another kill three points later to even the match. 

The teams were never separated by more than three points in a third set that saw the Beavers hit .286 while recording 13 kills. Griffin and Allen both contributed kills and Whitehurst added a kill and a block during a 5-2 spurt that gave Babson a 20-18 lead. The Gulls scored the next two points to pull even but Fouche and Griffin answered with kills and Gips added a late block as the hosts closed out a three-point victory. 

The Green and White faced an early four-point deficit in the fourth set but hit a blistering .480 and went in front for good midway through the frame. Back-to-back aces by Frosk made it 15-12 and Fouche followed a trio of errors by Endicott to stretch the margin to 19-14. The visitors got as close as three late but Griffin, Gips and Allen all contributed kills to close out the match. 

 Babson returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Emerson in its NEWMAC opener at 7 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers have won eight consecutive matches against Brandeis and are now 13-9 all-time versus Endicott, which incudes four straight wins. 
•    Babson is 20-1 inside Staake Gymnasium going back to the 2022 NEWMAC Tournament. 
•    Gips has now recorded at least one block in 23 consecutive matches dating back to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. 
•    In each of Babson's last two matches against Endicott, the first set has ended 32-30.