No. 24 Women's Volleyball at No. 3 MIT
Tuesday, October 20 | 6 p.m. 
Rockwell Cage | Cambridge, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 9-46 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to 1976. 
•    The Beavers have dropped their last five matches in the series on the heels of winning of four of six matches versus the Engineers from 2018-23. 
•    All nine of Babson's victories in the all-time series have come since 2013, which includes three wins in Cambridge (2014, 2015, 2018). 
•    Nine of the last 13 matches between the Green and White and MIT going back to 2017 have been decided in either four or five sets. 

LAST MEETING
•    Ali Gibbs recorded four of her 19 kills in the decisive fifth set and hit .531 for the match as MIT outlasted Babson, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13, in the NEWMAC Tournament final on November 16, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. 
•    Eileen Sadati also registered 19 kills, Kaleigh May provided 54 assists, 10 digs and five blocks, and Daphne Gavros led four players in double figures with 17 digs for the Engineers, who hit .257 for the match and .381 in the fifth set. 
•    Senior Hailey Fouche finished with a career-high 19 kills, junior Angelina Holm matched her career high with eight blocks, senior Zoe Ackerman contributed 45 assists, seven digs, five blocks and two aces, and Sophia Shaw '26 led all players with 23 digs in the loss for the Beavers, who finished with a .185 hitting percentage. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    No. 24 Babson (15-4, 6-1 NEWMAC) has won three straight matches after cruising to a three-set victory over Mount Holyoke on Saturday. 
•    Sophomore Liberty May registered eight kills, Fouche (five blocks), senior Nora Whitehurst (three blocks) and first-year Lia Gonzalez (six digs) each contributed six kills, and Ackerman finished with 31 assists, eight digs, six aces and three blocks for the Beavers, who hit .386 as a team against the Lyons. 
•    Fouche ranks sixth in the conference in kills per set (3.04) and fifth in hitting percentage (.300), sophomore Devon Burke is averaging 2.42 kills per set and classmate Ailsa Munro (2.38 k/s, 0.82 blocks/set) ranks third in the NEWMAC with a .336 hitting percentage. 
•    Holm (1.65 k/s, 0.90 b/s) ranks fifth in the league in blocks per set, Ackerman ranks eighth in Division III in assists per set (10.19) and is second in the league with 45 service aces, and junior Sabina Frosk is averaging a team-high 3.98 digs per set. 

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
•    No. 3 MIT (15-2, 5-1 NEWMAC) had won nine consecutive matches before suffering a four-set (25-21, 25-20, 14-25, 25-19) loss at Springfield on Saturday. 
•    Sabine Smith had 15 kills and 15 digs, Sadati added 14 kills, May posted a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs, and Sophia Song led all players with 21 digs for the Engineers, who finished with a season-high 14 receiving errors in the loss. 
•    Smith (3.95 k/s, 2.57 d/s) boasts a .284 hitting percentage and ranks first in the league in kills per set, Sadati (2.92 k/s) is hitting .257 this fall and Brennan Fritts is averaging 2.70 kills per set. 
•    Miller Grimes (1.44 k/s, 0.77 b/s) owns a .333 hitting percentage, May (10.23 a/s, 2.06 d/s) ranks sixth in Division III and leads the NEWMAC in assists per set, and Song is fourth in the conference in digs per set (4.42). 

PUSH TO THE POSTSEASON
•    Entering the final three weeks of the regular season, both Babson (6-1) and MIT (5-1) are one game behind Smith (7-0) in the loss column and just ahead of Emerson and Springfield, who are both 5-2 in the league standings. 
•    The Beavers lost to Smith in four sets back on September 26, defeated Emerson in three sets on October 6 and will face Springfield in the regular season finale for both teams on November 7. 
•    Babson (18th) and MIT (3rd) are two of five NEWMAC programs ranked among the top 40 of the latest NCAA NPI rankings along with Smith (8th), Emerson (35th) and Springfield (39th). 

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
•    Ackerman moved into second place in program history in both assists (3,685) and service aces (228) in last Wednesday's win at WPI. 
•    Fouche became the 12th player in Babson history to surpass 700 career kills on Saturday against Mount Holyoke and currently ranks 11th all-time in kills (705) and 12th in points (862.5). 
•    Fouche also needs just six more blocks to become one of five players in Babson history with at least 700 kills and 200 blocks. 

TRENDS TO WATCH
•    The Beavers have hit .200 or better in four consecutive matches and seven of their last eight outings going back to September 29. 
•    Babson has recorded eight or more total blocks in seven of the last eight matches, which includes matching its season high with 11 in Saturday's win over Mount Holyoke. 
•    Munro is averaging 3.14 kills and 0.91 blocks per set while hitting .370 over the last six matches. 
•    In five conference matches this fall, Frosk is averaging 4.94 digs per set. 
•    Going back to last year's NEWMAC Tournament final, Fouche has recorded 11 or more kills in 18 of the last 22 matches. 
•    Over the last five matches, first-year Sara Arango has totaled 91 digs while averaging 4.14 digs per set. 
•    In six appearances since October 3, first-year Maya Foley is averaging 1.25 kills and 1.50 blocks per set. 
•    The Beavers' last three road matches – at WPI, at Pomona-Pitzer, at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – have all been decided in five sets. 

STREAKING BEAVERS
•    Ackerman has dished out 30 or more assists in 10 straight matches. 
•    Holm has recorded at least one block in 15 consecutive matches, while Fouche and Munro have both contributed at least one block in 13 straight contests. 
•    Frosk has 11 or more digs in each of her last eight matches, which includes 19 or more in three straight going back to Babson's October 6 win over Emerson.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    Babson ranks 18th in Division III in hitting percentage (.246). 
•    The Beavers are 14-1 when hitting .200 or better and 15-2 when recording more kills than their opponents this fall. 
•    The Green and White is 9-1 over its last 10 NEWMAC matches away from home going back to last season. 
•    Babson is 9-0 this year when it finishes with more digs than its foes. 

UP NEXT
•    The Beavers will host Middlebury to begin the New England Challenge on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Staake Gymnasium.