BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore
Devin Burke (Newtonville, Mass.) recorded a season-high 11 kills but No. 19 Babson College dropped a four-set decision (25-15, 25-15, 25-27, 25-20) to visiting Smith College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action on Saturday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson, which had its four-match winning streak stopped, is now 9-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Smith has won three consecutive matches to improve to 12-1 overall and 2-0 in the NEWMAC.
Senior
Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.) registered 10 kills, first-year
Lia Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) provided nine kills and a season-high 12 digs, and junior
Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) chipped in with five kills and matched Fouche with a team-high four blocks. Junior
Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) also had 12 digs and senior
Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) led all players with 34 assists in the loss.
Senior Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) led all players with 12 kills, sophomore Alison Chapin (Temecula, Calif.) produced 11 kills and nine digs, and classmate Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, Ill.) hit .467 while contributing eight kills to pace the Bears. Senior Anna Feuer (Frederick, Md.) led all players with seven blocks, junior Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with 23 assists and 17 digs, and senior Ruth Tullis (Edmond, Okla.) led all players with 19 digs in the victory.
Smith dominated the opening set using a kill and three consecutive service aces by Etheridge to build a quick 7-2 lead. The visitors rattled off five consecutive points to stretch the margin to 13-10 and then went on a 7-1 run that included kills by Etheridge and Feuer for a commanding 21-10 advantage.
The Bears started fast again in game two, forging a 12-4 lead behind five straight points on the serve of Tullis while not allowing Babson to get closer than four on the way to a 2-0 advantage in the match. The third set featured eight ties and four lead changes before the Green and White went ahead for good 15-14 on a service ace by first-year
Sara Arango (Miami, Fla.). Back-to-back kills by Gonzalez extended the margin to 18-15 and both Holm and Burke followed a kill by Fouche with one of their own to make it 22-18. The visitors rallied to pull even at 23 and the teams traded blocks to remain tied at 25 before the Beavers went in front on a Smith attack error and pushed the match to a fourth set on a kill by Gonzalez.
Babson held a pair of early three-point leads in the fourth set before getting hit with a 12-3 run by the Bears. The hosts responded with a pair of kills from Burke around back-to-back blocks by Holm and Fouche to cut the deficit to 14-12 only to see Feuer answer with consecutive blocks as Smith scored seven of the next eight points to build a 21-13 lead it would not relinquish.
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as Babson travels to Wellesley while Smith visits Springfield.
MATCH NOTES
• The Beavers are now 17-25 all-time against Smith and despite winning nine of the last 12 matches between the teams have dropped three straight to the Bears inside Staake Gymnasium.
• Babson finished with a season-high 29 attack errors and a season-worst 10 receiving errors in Saturday's loss.
• The Green and White, which entered the weekend ranked sixth in Division III in hitting percentage (.277), hit just .100 against the Bears.
• Saturday's loss was just the fifth in the last 40 matches for the Beavers at home dating back to the start of the 2023 campaign.
