SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Senior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished with 13 kills and sophomore Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) and first-year Ailsa Munro (Sylmar, Calif.) each recorded a career-high eight blocks to help Babson College defeat Middlebury College in five sets, 27-25, 14-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-10, to open the New England Challenge on Friday night inside Dana Gym. 

Babson, which has won 11 of its last 12 matches, improves to 15-4 on the year. Middlebury, which advanced to the third round of last year's NCAA Tournament, has dropped five consecutive matches to slip to 11-9 overall. 

Junior Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) produced 11 kills and six blocks, Munro contributed eight kills and junior Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) finished with 43 assists, 12 digs and six blocks for the Beavers. Senior Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) led all players with a season-high 24 digs and first-year Misaki Harte (San Jose, Calif.) recorded a career-high five service ace in the win. 

Gabby Pribisich led all players with 16 kills, Molly Harrison provided 13 kills and 17 digs, and Campbell Bartley handed out 38 assists to go along with nine digs in the loss for the Panthers. 

Tied at 6-6 in the decisive fifth set, the Green and White used a 7-2 that included consecutive blocks by Holm and Ackerman, a pair of kills by Munro and a service ace by Ackerman for a 13-8 lead. Middlebury scored two straight points to get within three, but Allen responded with a kill and Harte followed with an ace to close out the match. 

The Beavers trailed by as many as five in the opening set and were down 21-18 late but used a 9-4 spurt that included two late kills and an ace from first-year Liberty May (Grapevine, Texas) to take a 1-0 lead. The Panthers answered back by taking game two, but Babson responded with a dominating third set performance that included 10 kills, six aces and six blocks to go back in front. 

Middlebury raced out to a 13-4 lead in the fourth and held off a late rally by the Beavers, who made 10 attack errors in the stanza to force the decisive fifth set. 

Both teams are back in action on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. as Babson faces Tufts and Williams, while Middlebury takes on Springfield and MIT. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 5-6 all-time against Middlebury and have won two straight matches in the series. 
•    Babson is 2-1 this fall in five-set matches and improves to 14-2 when winning the first set. 
•    The Green and White set a new season high with 17 total blocks. 
•    The Beavers are now 9-3 this season in road and neutral-court matches.