Women's Volleyball at Smith
Saturday, September 28 | 1 p.m. 
Ainsworth Gymnasium | Northampton, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 16-24 all-time against Smith in a series that dates back to 1987. 
•    The Beavers have won eight of the last 10 matches between the teams and have lost just three times to the Bears in 16 contests going back to 2008. 
•    The Green and White has won six consecutive matches inside Ainsworth Gymnasium since suffering a five-set loss in a reverse sweep back in 2013. 
•    The last four matches between Babson and Smith have been decided in four sets. 

LAST MEETING
•    Mia Etheridge (18) and Abby Hunt (17) combined for 35 kills as Smith rallied after dropping the four set to defeat the Beavers in four, 19-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-21, on October 29, 2024, in Babson Park. 
•    Gwynne Taylor dished out a match-high 34 assists to go along with 19 digs and Anna Feuer led all players with seven blocks for the Bears, who hit .227 over the final three sets. 
•    Lauren Gips '25 recorded 11 kills and five blocks, junior Zoe Ackerman handed out 26 assists to go along with a match-high six aces, and Tatum Stelter '25 led all players with 20 digs for Babson, which matched its season high with 13 total blocks. 
 
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (7-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) has won three consecutive matches after coming from behind to defeat Wheaton in four sets, 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17, in Tuesday's conference opener. 
•    Sophomore Angelina Holm recorded a career-high 15 kills to go along with three blocks, senior Isabella Allen added 12 kills and two blocks, and Ackerman finished with 28 assists and six digs for the Beavers, who hit a blistering .427 over the final three sets. 
•    Allen is averaging a team-high 2.88 kills per set, Holm (2.35 k/s, 0.96 blocks/set) ranks 12th in Division III with a .395 hitting percentage and juniors Allison Molendyk (2.21 k/s) and Hailey Fouche (2.09 k/s) are combining for better than four kills per set. 
•    Ackerman is handing out 7.87 assists per set and ranks first in the conference with 29 service aces, while senior Sophia Shaw is averaging a team-high 3.50 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS
•    Smith (10-5, 1-0 NEWMAC) snapped a two-match skid by defeating Coast Guard in four sets, 25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20, in its conference opener on Tuesday night. 
•    Alison Chapin finished with 17 kills and 21 digs, Etheridge added 16 kills and 15 digs, and Feuer led all players with seven total blocks for the Bears, who had five players record double-digit digs including 27 from Maddie Hliboki. 
•     Etheridge (3.22 k/s, 2.37 d/s) owns a .230 hitting percentage, Chapin is averaging 2.21 kills and 2.08 digs per set, and Addison Klunder is contributing 2.06 kills and 1.75 digs per set. 
•    Feuer ranks fourth in the NEWMAC in blocks per set (0.96), Skye Higashihara and Ruby Woodward have combined to hand out 11.06 assists per set, and Ruth Tullis is averaging a team-high 3.13 digs per set. 

NEWMAC KNOWLEDGE
•    Babson has now opened NEWMAC play with a win in 12 consecutive seasons (excluding 2021) going back to 2012 and has started 2-0 in league play in 10 straight since 2014. 
•    The Beavers have finished no worse than fourth in the conference standings in 11 straight years dating back to 2013, and last season's tie for fourth place snapped a streak of 10 consecutive top-three finishes.  
•    The Green and White was picked third behind last year's defending regular season champions MIT and reigning NEWMAC Tournament champion Smith in the conference's preseason coaches' poll back in August. 

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
•    Allen, who appeared in the 100th match of her career on Tuesday, recorded the 750th kill of her career and passed Kristin Carosotto '20 for ninth place on the Beavers' all-time list. 
•    In addition to ranking fourth on the program's career list with 2,132 assists, Ackerman's 137 service aces are just two shy of joining Caitlin O'Neill '10 and Elizabeth Sullivan '16 for 10th place on Babson's all-time list.
•    Shaw became just the 15th player in school history to surpass 800 career digs in Tuesday's win at Wheaton. 

STREAKING BEAVERS
•    Holm has recorded at least one block in 16 straight matches dating back to the end of the 2024 campaign, while first-year Ailsa Munro has finished with a block in six consecutive outings.
•    Ackerman has doled out 24 or more assists in all 10 matches this fall.
•    Allen has totaled at least eight kills and Fouche has registered six or more kills in Babson's last six matches
•    Shaw has at least one service ace in 10 consecutive matches and 14 or more digs in four of the Beavers' last six contests. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    Babson ranks 18th in Division III with a .241 hitting percentage and has finished at .200 or better in all seven of its wins this fall.
•    The Beavers are 6-2 this fall when taking the opening set of the match and 1-1 when dropping the first set. 
•    The Green and White is 4-1 this season and 38-1 since the start of the 2023 season when holding its opponents to a hitting percentage of .150 or lower.  
•    Babson is 5-1 on the year when recording at least 10 service aces. 

UP NEXT
•    The Beavers welcome Wellesley to Staake Gymnasium on Tuesday at 7 p.m.