Women's Volleyball vs. No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
NCAA Tournament | First Round
Thursday, November 20 | 11:30 a.m.
Silloway Gymnasium | Middletown, Conn. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    Babson earned one of 21 at-large bids after finishing at No. 24 in the Division III NPI and is back in the NCAA Tournament following a one-year hiatus. 
•    The Beavers are one of eight teams competing in the Middletown (Conn.) Regional with the winner advancing to the Division III quarterfinals in Bloomington, Ill., on December 3. 

MIDDLETOWN REGIONAL SCHEDULE | FIRST ROUND
Babson (22-7) vs. No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (20-7), 11:30 a.m.
No. 7 Colby (23-3) vs. Marymount (17-16), 2 p.m. 
No. 12 Ithaca (26-4) vs. Plymouth State (23-7), 4:30 p.m.
NYU (19-11) at No. 17 Wesleyan (20-3), 7 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 0-1 all-time against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps after suffering a three-set loss (25-11, 25-11, 25-17) at the Pacific Coast Classic on September 2, 2022, in Claremont, Calif. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 9th
Best NCAA Finish: 2018 quarterfinals 
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2023 second round
•    Babson (22-7) has won eight of its last 11 matches but is coming off a five-set loss to No. 12 MIT in the NEWMAC Tournament final on Sunday afternoon. 
•    Junior Hailey Fouche recorded a career-high 19 kills, senior Isabella Allen added 12 kills, junior Zoe Ackerman handed out 45 assists and senior Sophia Shaw led all players with 23 digs for the Beavers, who dropped the decisive fifth set 15-13. 
•    Allen (2.67 k/s) has produced at least 10 kills in four of the last five matches, Fouche is averaging 2.34 kills, 1.22 digs and 0.65 blocks, and sophomore Angelina Holm (2.04 k/s, 0.84 b/s) boasts a .335 hitting percentage. 
•    First-year Ailsa Munro is averaging a team-high 0.92 blocks per set, Ackerman is handing out 8.97 assists per set to go along with a team-high 70 service aces, and Shaw is contributing a team-best 3.99 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE ATHENAS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 16th
Best NCAA Finish: 2017 national champions 
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2024 (second round)
•    No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (20-7) has won three straight matches and secured its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth with a reverse sweep (16-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 16-14) of then-No. 2 La Verne in last Saturday's SCIAC Tournament final. 
•    Brooke McKee finished with 19 kills and 14 digs, Shae Delany = produced 13 kills and 21 digs, and the duo of Samantha Riter and Hayden Lin combined for 49 assists for the Athenas, who hit .277 over the final three sets. 
•    McKee (4.35 k/s, 2.79 d/s) ranks 14th in Division III in kills per set, Delany is averaging 2.56 kills and 3.76 digs per set, and Phoebe Shorney (2.40 k/s) owns a .248 hitting percentage. 
•    Stella Gajar (1.09 b/s) and Solvej Eversoll (1.05 b/s) have both surpassed 100 total blocks on the season,  Lin and Riter both have 522 assists and have combined for 10.71 assists per set, and Mia Urosevic ranks 33rd in Division III in digs per set (5.17). 

BEAVERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
•    Babson is making its ninth NCAA Tournament in 11 years going back to 2014 and advanced to the national quarterfinals for the first time in school history in 2018 after reaching its first regional final in 2017.
•    The Beavers are 8-0 all-time in the opening round, which includes a five-set triumph over Stevenson in the Ithaca (N.Y.) Regional back in 2023. 
•    Head coach Eric Neely, who has guided the Beavers to all nine of their appearances, owns an 11-8 record in NCAA Tournament play. 

ACKERMAN, ALLEN, HOLM EARN ALL-NEWMAC HONORS
•    Ackerman and Holm received all-conference first-team recognition and Allen was named to the All-NEWMAC second team when the league announced its postseason award winners on Monday. 
•    A three-time all-conference honoree, Ackerman ranks first in service aces (70) and is second in assists per set (8.97). 
•    Holm, who ranks fifth in hitting percentage (.335) and sixth in blocks per set (0.84), and Allen, who leads the team in kills and boasts a career-best hitting percentage of .226, both earned all-league honors for the first time in their respective careers. 

VETERANS REACH MORE MILESTONES
•    After moving into fifth place on the Beavers' all-time list with 917 kills in the regular season finale on November 8, Allen passed Kristin Carosotto '20 for ninth place in program history with 958.5 points on Sunday against MIT.
•    Ackerman is now fifth in school history with 178 service aces after passing Brianna San Diego '15 in last Sunday's NEWMAC final. 
•    Shaw passed Karla Flores '14 for 10th place on Babson's all-time digs list and with 1,095 for her career she needs just five more to become the 10th player in program history to surpass 1,000 digs. 

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
•    Ackerman's 996 assists this fall are currently fifth on the single-season list and she needs just four more to join Elizabeth Cameron '20 as the only setters in program history with multiple 1,000-assist seasons, and 24 to match her career high of 1,020 set last year. 
•    Ackerman's 70 aces this season are tied for the fifth most in single-season program history and are the most by a Babson player since Eric Yuan '04 back in 2001.
•    Munro is the seventh player in program history to reach 90 total blocks in a season, while Shaw is the first player since Abby Beecher '19 in 2018 and the 10th player overall in Babson annals to surpass 400 digs in a season.

TALE OF THE TAPE
•    The Beavers are averaging 12.16 kills per set, rank 39th in Division III with a .226 hitting percentage and are 46th nationally in blocks per set (2.01). Babson also ranks 73rd in aces per set (2.47) and is holding its foes to a .157 hitting percentage. 
•    Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ranks 13th in Division III in kills per set (13.49), 15th in digs per set (18.71), 16th in blocks per set (2.24) and is 45th nationally with a .224 hitting percentage. The Athenas are also holding their opponents to a .151 hitting percentage. 

TRENDS TO WATCH
•    Munro and Holm, who matched her career high with eight blocks in Sunday's loss to MIT, give the Beavers two players with at least 80 total blocks for the first time since 2014. 
•    Ackerman has at least one service in 17 straight matches and averaged 10.42 assists, 1.75 digs and 0.75 blocks per set in three NEWMAC Tournament matches. 
•    First-year Devon Burke is averaging 2.53 kills per set on a .250 hitting percentage over her last four matches entering the NCAA Tournament. 
•    Fouche is averaging 2.65 kills and 0.76 blocks while hitting .241 over her last 16 matches. 
•    Shaw has finished with at least 13 digs in nine consecutive matches and is averaging 4.37 digs per set over the Beavers' last 16 contests, while sophomore Sabina Frosk has provided seven or more digs in five straight outings.
•    First-year Liberty May averaged 2.89 kills per set and had a .264 hitting percentage in three NEWMAC Tournament matches. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 53-0 over the last three seasons when finishing with a hitting percentage of .200 or better. 
•    Babson is 21-3 this fall when winning the first set. 
•    The Green and White is 15-2 on the year when recording more blocks than its opponents. 
•    The Beavers are 14-6 this season in road and neutral-court matches. 
•    Babson is 17-3 this fall and 58-5 over the last three seasons when finishing with more aces than its foes. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Thursday's match will face either No. 7 Colby or Marymount in the second round on Friday at 4:30 p.m.