WORCESTER, Mass.—Senior Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) and sophomore Liberty May (Grapevine, Texas) tied for match-high honors with nine kills and No. 22 Babson College finished with a .319 hitting percentage on the way to sweeping Clark University, 25-17, 25-14, 25-19, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Tuesday night inside the Kneller Athletic Center.
Babson, which has won four straight and eight of its last nine matches, improves to 21-5 overall and takes over first place in the conference at 9-1. Clark has dropped 12 of its last 13 matches and dips to 5-16 overall and 0-10 in the NEWMAC.
Junior
Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) recorded seven kills and two blocks, sophomore
Devon Burke (Newtonville, Mass.) added six kills and a season-high three service aces, and senior
Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) handed out 33 assists to go along with seven digs to pace the Beavers. First-year
Lia Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) chipped in with four kills and seven digs, and junior
Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) led all players with 20 digs in the win.
Junior Isabella Alcott (Maple Grove, Minn.) recorded five kills, five digs, five aces and two blocks, senior Katelyn Williams (Morristown, N.J.) and junior Abigail Venis (Sudbury, Mass.) both added four kills, and senior Harper Chinn (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) chipped in with 15 digs for the Cougars, who hit just .036 in the loss.
Five different players recorded at least one kill and the Green and White took advantage of six attack errors by Clark to build a 20-9 lead in an easy first-set victory. The hosts led 8-7 after an ace by Alcott early in the second before the Beavers got four kills from Burke during a 9-0 run to build a 16-8 cushion, and used three kills and an ace by May to close out the frame for a two-set advantage.
The third set featured five ties and one lead change before Babson got two kills and a service ace from first-year
Maya Foley (Allentown, N.J.), two kills from Holm and another by May to turn a 10-10 deadlock into a 16-10 lead. Clark pulled back within one on two occasions, but May, Fouche and first-year
Julia Garcia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) all provided a pair of late kills to help the Green and White finish off the sweep.
Babson is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Springfield at 3 p.m., while Clark takes on Skidmore on Thursday at 7 p.m.
MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 22-22 all-time against Clark and have won 15 of the last 19 matches between the two teams going back to 2011.
• Babson has won 11 of its last 12 road and neutral-court matches against NEWMAC foes going back to last season.
• The Green and White is now 15-0 this fall and 61-1 over the last four seasons when its opponents finish with a hitting percentage of .150 or lower.
• Ackerman pushed her career assist total to 3,875 in Tuesday's win and is now just 37 shy of the program record of 3,912 held by Elizabeth Cameron '20.
