Women's Volleyball at Coast Guard
Saturday, September 28 | 1 p.m. 
Roland Hall | New London, Conn. 

SERIES HISTORY 
•    Babson is 20-23 all-time against Coast Guard in a series that dates back to 1981. 
•    The Beavers have won 14 straight matches and 15 of their last 16 contests versus the Bears dating back to 2013. 
•    The Green and White, which is making just its fifth trip to New London, Conn., since 2013 has won its last four road matches against Coast Guard. 

LAST MEETING
•    Senior Lauren Gips led all players with 17 kills and seven blocks and Erin Gray '24 added 15 kills to help the Beavers rally for a five-set victory (25-16, 23-25, 14-25, 25-12, 15-12) over Coast Guard on September 23, 2023, in Babson Park. 
•    Sophomore Zoe Ackerman finished with 37 assists, 12 digs and three blocks, while junior Roz Cabuena added 27 digs and four service aces for Babson, who got three kills and a block from Gips in the decisive fifth set. 
•    Sophia Galdamez registered 16 kills, Sarah Somer added 10 kills and three blocks, and Maeve Duffin dished out 35 assists in a losing effort for the Bears, who finished with a .111 hitting percentage. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (10-1, 1-0 NEWMAC) extended its winning streak to six with a 3-0 victory over Emerson in its league opener on Tuesday night. 
•    Gips (12), junior Isabella Allen (10) and senior Lauren Griffin (9) combined for 31 kills, while Ackerman contributed 32 assists, nine digs, three kills and two blocks for the Beavers, who hit .253 in the win. 
•    Allen (2.83 kills/set) is hitting .284 and has recorded nine or more kills in five straight matches, Gips (2.77 k/s, 0.91 blocks/set) ranks second in the conference with a .413 hitting percentage, Griffin is averaging 2.32 kills per set. 
•    Ackerman ranks fourth in the league handing out 9.03 assists per set to go along with a team-high 27 service aces, while junior Sophia Shaw is averaging a team-high 4.15 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS
•    Coast Guard (9-5, 0-1 NEWMAC) has won five of its last seven matches but is coming off a 3-1 loss to sixth-ranked MIT to open conference play on Tuesday night. 
•    Shannon Shaw finished with 10 kills and six blocks, Amelia Matson added 10 kills and three blocks and Kaela France totaled a match-high 28 digs for the Bears, who hit .205 and recorded a season-high 16 total blocks in the loss. 
•    Matson (2.62 k/s) is hitting .241, Somer is averaging 2.40 kills per set and Shaw is contributing 2.18 kills and 1.83 digs per set. 
•    Sophia Rosenberg is handing out 7.35 assists, France is averaging a NEWMAC-best 6.11 digs per set and Eloise Shirley is chipping in with 0.92 blocks per set, which ranks fifth in the conference. 

NEWMAC KNOWLEDGE
•    The Beavers have won their conference opener in each of the last 12 seasons going back to 2012 and have started 2-0 in NEWMAC play in nine consecutive campaigns since 2014. 
•    Babson totaled 100 points and were picked to finish third behind MIT and Springfield, while Coast Guard came in fifth when the league released its preseason coaches' poll back in August.
•    Going back to 2013, the Green and White has posted 10 consecutive top-three finishes, which includes earning a share of three regular season titles (2014, 2019, 2021). 

CONFERENCE LEADERS
•    In addition to ranking second in the conference and 10th in Division III with a .413 hitting percentage, Gips is also fourth in total blocks (32) and sixth in both blocks per set (0.91) and points per set (3.94). 
•    Ackerman is third in aces per set (0.73) and fourth in total service aces (32), . 
•    Shaw ranks seventh in the league in digs per set (4.15), first-year Angelina Holm is seventh in blocks per set (0.81), and Allen enters the week ranked ninth with a .284 hitting percentage. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Allen is averaging 3.46 kills per set and boasts a .321 hitting percentage over the last four matches. 
•    Griffin has finished with at least nine kills in three consecutive outings, while Shaw has recorded nine or more digs nine times in 10 matches to start the year.
•    Gips has at least one block in 24 consecutive matches and is averaging 3.67 kills per set while hitting .457 in her last six contests going back to September 7.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS
•    Senior Tatum Stelter ranks fifth in program history with 171 service aces and needs just six more to move into a tie for fourth place with Brianna San Diego '15. 
•    Gips enters Saturday's match with 495 career kills and needs just five more to become the 22nd player in program history to reach 500. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers rank eighth in Division III in aces per set (3.51), 10th in opponents hitting percentage (.081) and 14th in team hitting percentage (.248). 
•    Babson is 9-0 this season and 33-2 going back to the start of last season when recording more kills than its opponents. 
•    The Green and White is 34-3 in the month of September going back to 2022. 
•    The Beavers have won 25 straight contests when hitting .200 or better. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson heads across town to face Wellesley on Tuesday at 7 p.m.