BALTIMORE—The Babson College women's volleyball team wrapped up play at the Greg "Gio" Giovanazzi Memorial Tournament by splitting a pair of four-set matches inside Goldfarb Gymnasium on Saturday. 

The Beavers (2-1) opened the day by defeating Rowan University, 25-12, 25-12, 20-25, 25-15, and then took the opening set before falling to fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins University, 29-27, 18-25, 20-25, 14-25. 

Babson 3, Rowan 1
Sophomore Sofia Ibarra (Coral Gables, Fla.) hit .450 and tied for match-high honors with 10 kills, senior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) recorded nine kills and first-year Liberty May (Grapevine, Texas) added seven kills and seven digs to pace the Beavers. Junior Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 25 assists to go along with nine digs and four service aces, sophomore Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) led all players with six blocks, and senior Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) finished with 14 digs in the victory. 

The Green and White trailed 5-4 early in the opening before going on a 19-6 run, and then built a 17-4 advantage in game two as the Profs recorded just eight kills while committing 14 errors over the first two stanzas. The Beavers rallied from a five-point deficit to take a 19-15 lead thanks to back-to-back kills by May and Ibarra only to see Rowan (1-2) go on a 10-1 run that included the final seven points to force a fourth set. 

Babson dominated game four jumping out to a 12-5 lead as Allen and Ibarra combined for five kills, and hit .379 as a team in the frame. 

No. 4 Johns Hopkins 3, Babson 1
May registered a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, Allen put away 12 kills and Ackerman finished with 31 assists, nine digs and four aces for the Beavers. Shaw and sophomore Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) both totaled nine digs, while first-year Ailsa Munro (Sylmar, Calif.) added five kills and a team-best three blocks in the loss. 

The Green and White trailed 16-9 in the opening stanza before three kills and a block by junior Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) and two aces by Ackerman sparked a 7-1 run that cut the deficit to just one. Allen recorded three straight kills and May followed with an ace to put Babson up 23-19, but the Blue Jays fought off seven set points to tie the game at 27-all before consecutive kills by Allen gave the Beavers a 1-0 edge. 

Johns Hopkins (3-0) hit .281 and totaled 14 kills in game two to even the match and then used a late run in the third that included kills from junior Ivy Swafford (Johnson City, Texas) and senior Helena Swaak (McLean, Va.), and an ace by classmate Alice Yu (San Diego, Calif.) to build a 21-16 lead that it would not relinquish. The Blue Jays raced out to a quick 9-3 advantage in the fourth and recorded 11 kills while making just one error in 21 swings to put the match away. 

Swafford and senior Simone Adam (Menlo Park, Calif.) both finished with 17 kills, Yu led all players with five service aces, and Swaak chipped in with 22 assists, 10 digs and four kills for the hosts. 

Babson is off until next Saturday when it welcomes Keystone to Staake Gymnasium for its home opener at 1 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES
•    Saturday's matches were the first in program history for the Beavers against both Rowan and Johns Hopkins. 
•    Babson is now 6-3 going back to the start of last year in four-set matches. 
•    In three matches over the weekend, the Green and White averaged 11.00 kills per set while hitting .246 as a team.