Women's Volleyball vs. No. 7 Colby
NCAA Tournament | Second Round
Friday, November 20 | 4:30 p.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 
FIRST ROUND
Babson 3, No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2
No. 7 Colby 3, Marymount 0 
No. 12 Ithaca 3, Plymouth State 0
No. 17 Wesleyan 3, NYU 1

SECOND ROUND
Babson (23-7) vs. No. 7 Colby (24-3), 4:30 p.m.
No. 12 Ithaca (27-4) at No. 17 Wesleyan (21-3), 7 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson 6-2 all-time against Colby in a series that dates back to 2001.
•    The Beavers had won five in a row against the Mules since 2014 before suffering a five-set loss back in September. 
•    Friday's match will be the first in the postseason and just the third overall between the teams since 2017.

LAST MEETING
•    Brady Moseley finished with 13 kills and 14 digs as Colby recorded a reverse sweep to defeat Babson, 21-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-21, 15-6, to conclude the inaugural New England Fall Classic on September 13 in Northampton, Mass. 
•    Cyanne Jones produced eight kills and nine blocks, LJ Grant added seven kills and Gabby Grujic handed out 20 assists to go along with 17 digs for the Mules, who hit a season-worst .114 in the victory. 
•    First-year Liberty May had 14 kills and four blocks, junior Hailey Fouche provided 13 kills and senior Sophia Shaw led all players with a season-high 24 digs for the Beavers, who also posted their lowest hitting percentage of the year (.087). 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 9th
Best NCAA Finish: 2018 quarterfinals 
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2023 second round
•    Babson (23-7) has won nine of its last 12 matches after coming from behind to edge No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in five sets, 23-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11, in Friday's first round. 
•    Fouche recorded a team-high 14 kills, senior Isabella Allen produced four of her 12 kills in the fifth set and junior Zoe Ackerman doled out 46 assists and was one of five players in double figures with 11 digs for the Beavers, who hit .234 and served up 15 aces in the victory.
•    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 MULES
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 3rd
Best NCAA Finish: 2005 quarterfinals
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2024 (second round)
•    No. 7 Colby (24-3) has won six of its last seven matches and opened the NCAA Tournament with an easy 3-0 victory over Marymount (Va.) on Thursday afternoon.
•    Hayley Beigh hit .647 with 11 kills in 17 swings, Moseley added seven kills, 10 digs and three aces, and Grujic and Sydney DProfio combined for 29 assists for the Mules, who hit .239 as a team in the win. 
•    Moseley (3.30 k/s, 2.76 d/s) has produced double-digit kills in eight of the last 10 matches, Grant is averaging 2.39 kills and 2.79 digs, and Majorie Johnson (1.97 k/s) owns a .253 hitting percentage this fall. 
•    Jones (1.12 b/s) and Kendall Glover (1.03 b/s) have both contributed at least two blocks in eight consecutive matches, Grujic and DeProfio have combined for 9.63 assists per set, and Reese Loyd is averaging a team-high 3.42 digs per set. 

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 9-0 all-time in the opening round after Thursday's win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
•    The Green and White is 2-6 all-time in second round matches with wins over Clarkson (3-2) in 2017 and Wellesley (3-0) in 2018. The Beavers also suffered five-set losses to eventual national champion Juniata in 2021 and Tufts in 2022.
•    Head coach Eric Neely, who has guided the Beavers to all nine of their appearances, owns an 12-8 record in NCAA Tournament play. 

THREE 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. 

ABOUT THURSDAY'S WIN
•    Four players finished with at least 10 kills and five players recorded double-digit digs in the victory over CMS. 
•    Sophomore Sabina Frosk was second behind Shaw with 16 digs, while first-year Misaki Harte provided a season-high 12 digs in the victory. 
•    Sophomore Emma Watts enter the match in the fourth set and finished with a career-high three service aces. 
•    Babson's 63 kills and 80 digs were its most in seven five-set matches this fall. 
•    The Beavers' six service errors are tied for its second lowest total of the season. 

VETERANS REACH MORE MILESTONES
•    Allen moved into fifth place on the Beavers' all-time list back on November 8 and now has 929 career kills. 
•    Allen also passed Kristin Carosotto '20 for ninth place last Sunday and enters Friday's match with 971.0 career points. 
•    Ackerman ranks third all-time with 2,875 assists and is now fifth in school history with 179 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 last Sunday against MIT and now ranks ninth in program history with 1,118 career digs after passing Carlen Palau '08 on Thursday. 

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
•    Ackerman's 1,042 assists this fall are a new career high and just four shy of the Beavers' single-season program record set by Elizabeth Cameron '20 back in 2018. 
•    Ackerman's 71 aces this season are tied for third in single-season program history and are the most by a Babson player since Eric Yuan '04 back in 2001.
•    Munro's 95 total blocks rank third on Babson's single-season list, while Shaw needs just four digs to become the eighth player in school history to surpass 450 digs in a season and the first since 2018 to do so. 

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 85 total blocks for the first time since 2014. 
•    Ackerman has at least one service in 18 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 entering this weekend's regional
•    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 Frosk has provided seven or more digs in five straight outings.
•   May averaged 2.89 kills per set and had a .264 hitting percentage in three NEWMAC Tournament matches. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 54-0 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 16-2 on the year when recording more blocks than its opponents. 
•    The Beavers are 15-6 this season in road and neutral-court matches. 
•    Babson is 18-3 this fall and 59-5 over the last three seasons when finishing with more aces than its foes. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Friday's match will take on either No. 12 Ithaca or No. 17 Wesleyan in Saturday's regional final at 5 p.m.