BABSON PARK, Mass.—After reaching its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) final since 2022, the Babson College women's volleyball team earned one of 21 at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament when the Division III field was announced on Monday afternoon. 

The Beavers (22-7), who suffered a five-set loss to No. 12 MIT on Sunday, return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023 and the ninth time in program history. Babson has reached at least the second round in all seven of its previous trips to the national championship, which includes advancing to the regional final in 2017 and the national quarterfinals in 2018. 

The Beavers will face 21st-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the first round on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in Middletown, Conn., on the campus of Wesleyan University. The Athenas will be making their 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the 16th in school history. 

The winner will take on either No. 6 Colby (23-3) or Marymount (17-16) in Friday's second round at 4:30 p.m. The other side of the bracket features No. 16 Wesleyan (20-3) against NYU (19-11) and No. 15 Ithaca (26-4) facing Plymouth State (23-7) with the winners meeting in the second round on Friday at 7 p.m. The regional final is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday.