Box Score MIDDLETOWN, Conn.—Senior
Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) recorded four of her 12 kills in the decisive fifth set as Babson College edged No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 23-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon inside Silloway Gymnasium.
Babson, which has won nine of its last 12 matches, improves to 23-7 and is now 9-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament first round matches. CMS sees its season come to a close at 20-8.
Junior
Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) finished with 14 kills, three assists and three blocks, sophomore
Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) recorded 10 kills, six blocks and three aces, and first-year
Ailsa Munro (Sylmar, Calif.) added 10 kills and five blocks to pace the Beavers. Junior
Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 46 assists to go along with 11 digs, while sophomore senior
Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) led all players with 23 digs in the win.
Shae Delaney (Santa Barbara, Calif.) registered a match-high 17 kills to go along with 17 digs, Phoebe Shorney (River Forest, Ill.) contributed 16 kills and six blocks, and Brooke McKee (Upland, Calif.) chipped in with 13 kills and 15 digs to pace the Athenas. Hayden Lin (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) recored 29 assists in the loss.
Babson led 4-1 in the fifth thanks to a pair of aces by sophomore
Emma Watts (Northport, N.Y.) only to see CMS go on a 8-1 run to take its largest advantage of the stanza at 9-5. The Beavers responded with the next seven points though, getting three kills from Allen, another from Ackerman and an ace by Holm to make it 12-9.
The Athenas pulled within two on a kill by Anna Ryan (Atherton, Calif.), but Munro, Fouche and Allen answered with kills of their own to finish off the win.
The Green and White trailed by as many as seven at 16-9 in the opening set but battled back to grab a 23-22 lead on a service ace by first-year
Misaki Harte (San Jose, Calif.). CMS answered right back though, getting kills from Delany and McKee to go back in front 24-23 before taking advantage of an attack error by Babson for a two-point victory.
The Beavers evened things up at a set apiece thanks to a 13-4 run in game two that featured two aces and a kill by Fouche, three kills by Holm and two each by Burke and Allen to build a 19-10 advantage. The Athenas cut their deficit to six but Munro and Holm closed the stanza with back-to-back kills.
Fouche gave Babson a 15-8 lead in the third before CMS chipped away and capped a five-point run with a kill by Ryan to go ahead 20-19. The Green and White pulled even twice, the last coming at 21-all, but Delany put the Athenas ahead for good with a kill as they went up 2-1 in the match with another two-point win.
Just as they had in game two, the Green and White answered back to send the match to a decisive fifth set. Leading 16-14, the Beavers scored five consecutive points on the serve of sophomore Watts and took its largest advantage of the frame at 21-14 on a kill by first-year
Liberty May (Grapevine, Texas).
Babson will face either No. 7 Colby or Marymount (Va.) in the second round on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers, who are now 1-1 all-time against CMS, have advanced to at least the second round in all nine of their NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Babson, which hit .234 in Thursday's win, has won its last 54 matches when it finishes with a hitting percentage of .200 or better.
• With 46 assists in the win, Ackerman is now just four away from the single-season record of 1,046 held by Elizabeth Cameron '20.
• Shaw became the 10th player in Babson history to surpass 1,000 career digs in the win.
• The Beavers finished the afternoon with 15 aces and are now 59-5 over the last three years when recording more aces than their foes.
