CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Senior Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) recorded four of her 19 kills in the decisive fifth set as top-seeded and 12th-ranked MIT defeated second-seeded Babson College, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final on Sunday afternoon inside Rockwell Cage. 

Babson, which was playing in its first conference final since 2022, is now 22-7 on the year. MIT captured its fourth NEWMAC title over the last five seasons and improved to 27-3 on the year with its 19th straight victory. 

Junior Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) registered a career-high 19 kills to go along with four blocks, senior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) added 12 kills and sophomore Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) matched her career high with eight total blocks for the Beavers. Junior Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) contributed 45 assists, seven digs, five blocks and two aces, while senior Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) served up three aces and led all players with 23 digs in the loss. 

Gibbs made just two errors, finished with a .531 hitting percentage and added a team-high five blocks to earn NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors for the Engineers. Junior Eileen Sadati (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) also recorded 19 blocks, classmate Kaleigh May (Camarillo, Calif.) dished out 54 assists to go along with 10 digs and five blocks, and senior Daphne Gavros (Bel Tiburon, Calif.) chipped in with 17 digs in the win. 

MIT hit .609 with 14 kills and no errors while cruising to a first-set victory. Game two featured 10 ties and four lead changes before the Green and White used a kill by first-year Devon Burke (Newtonville, Mass.) to go in front for good at 13-12. The Beavers took advantage of three straight errors to extend the margin to 17-13, and got a block from Holm and Fouche and an ace from Shaw to push the lead to 23-19 after the Engineers had pulled within one. 

Game three featured 11 ties and five lead changes with Babson going up 15-11 before the hosts rallied late. Sadati and senior Claire Underwood (Yorba Linda, Calif.) each recorded a kill and combined on a block during a five-point run that put the Engineers in front 22-19. Sadati put away another late kill and combined with Gibbs for a block on set point to give MIT a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Beavers answered back in the fourth though, erasing an early 6-2 deficit with six consecutive points and later going on a 10-3 run to lead by as many as six at 22-16. Holm and Ackerman recorded three blocks in the span of four points to forge an 8-6 edge, and Fouche produced three consecutive kills and combined with Holm on another block to make it 19-14 on the way to forcing a decisive fifth set. 

The teams were never separated by more than two points in the final stanza, which featured four ties and one lead change. The Green and White used a kill by Fouche to pull even at 11-all but the hosts took advantage of back-to-back attack errors to regain a 13-12 edge. Kills by first-year Liberty May (Grapevine, Texas) and Allen trimmed the deficit to one before Gibbs recorded her final kill of the afternoon on match point to start the Engineers' celebration. 

Both teams will be among the 64 teams taking part in the NCAA Tournament and will find out who they will face in the opening round when the bracket is unveiled at 1 p.m. on Monday on NCAA.com. 

MATCH NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 3-10 all-time against MIT in the postseason, which includes a 1-2 mark in the conference championship match. 
•    Babson is now 3-3 on the season in five-set matches. 
•    The Green and White finished with its second highest block assist total of the season (24) and lost for just the second time in 17 matches this fall when recording more total blocks than its opponent. 
•    The Beavers' 64 kills were the most in a five-set match this season.