CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—First-year
Lia Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) recorded a career-high 18 kills and senior
Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) added 17 kills and a career-best seven blocks to help 25th-ranked Babson College defeat No. 7 MIT in four sets, 29-27, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23, in New England Women's and Men's athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night inside Rockwell Cage.
Babson, which picked up its first win over the Engineers in Cambridge since 2018, improves to 16-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play with its fourth consecutive victory. MIT has dropped back-to-back matches to slip to 15-3 overall and 5-2 in the NEWMAC.
Sophomore
Ailsa Munro (Sylmar, Calif.) registered 12 kills and matched her career high with eight blocks, classmate
Liberty May (Grapevine, Texas) hit .545 with six kills in 11 swings, and senior
Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) finished with 49 assists, 11 digs and three blocks to lead the Beavers. First-year
Maya Foley (Allentown, N.J.) chipped in with five blocks and junior
Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) led all players with 20 digs in the win.
First-year Sabine Smith (Park City, Utah) tied for match-high honors with 18 kills, senior Eileen Sadati (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) recorded 13 kills, and classmate Kayleigh May (Camarillo, Calif.) handed out 44 assists to go along with seven digs and three blocks. Junior Sophia Song (Plano, Texas) led two players in double figures with 15 digs in the loss.
The Green and White took its largest lead of the first set at 15-11 on a service ace by sophomore
Misaki Harte (San Jose, Calif.) before MIT responded six consecutive points out of a timeout and matched its largest advantage at 21-18 on a kill by junior Jennifer Cen (Orlando, Fla.). The hosts earned the first of three set points on a service error, but the Beavers got a kill from Munro and two more from Gonzalez to even things up at 26 before Ackerman's ace put the visitors in front by one. Smith answered with a kill for the 13th tie of the set, but Fouche made it 28-27 with a kill and Gonzalez closed out the frame with a service ace.
Munro contributed two kills and three blocks to stake Babson to a 12-6 lead in the second set, and Fouche provided three kills in the span of five points to extend the margin to 17-8. Two more kills by Munro helped match the Beavers' largest advantage of the stanza at 22-13, and Gonzalez came through with a kill and combined with Foley for a block to fend off a late rally by MIT for a two-set edge.
Babson was ahead by as many as five early in game three and got within two points of closing out the match before the Engineers stayed alive with a late rally. Smith and Sadati produced back-to-back kills to tie the set at 23-all and junior Cate Haley (Austin, Texas) followed with an ace to put the hosts in front 24-23. May tied it up for the 10th time in the stanza but Sadati answered with a kill and the Green and White made just its fifth attack error of the frame forcing a fourth set.
A tightly contested game four featured eight ties and five lead changes with Babson taking advantage of 10 attack errors by the hosts. The Beavers trailed by as many as three on five occasions in the early going but used kills by Gonzalez and Fouche around an error by MIT to go in front for good at 21-19. Gonzalez and Fouche both added another kill to extend the margin to 24-21 and closed out the victory three points later thanks to a service error by Smith.
The Green and White hit .257 in the win and finished with the edge in kills (58-51), total blocks (15-6), digs (61-47) and aces (11-8). The Engineers recorded their second lowest hitting percentage of the season (.151) in the loss.
Both teams are back in action at 7 p.m. on Friday when they begin the 11th edition of the New England Challenge with Babson hosting Middlebury and MIT taking on Williams.
MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are 9-12 versus MIT since 2013 after winning just once against the Engineers from 1976-2012, and Tuesday's victory snapped a five-match losing streak in the series.
• Babson is 15-1 this season when hitting .200 or better and 16-2 when it records more kills than its opponents.
• The Green and White is now 10-1 against NEWMAC foes away from home going back to last season.
• The Beavers' 15 total blocks are their most since finishing with 17 in a five-set win over Middlebury on October 24, 2025.
