CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Top-seeded and nationally ranked No. 4 MIT advanced to the NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship for the fourth year in a row and the 19
th time overall after defeating No. 5 seed Babson College, 25-19, 25-22, 25-15, in the semifinals on Saturday in Rockwell Cage. In the victory, senior
Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) recorded the 1,000
th kill of her career, becoming the 13
th player in program history to accomplish this feat.
THE BASICS:
- Score: No. 4 MIT 3, Babson 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-15)
- Records: No. 4 MIT (31-0 Overall); Babson (23-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Set 1: The early stages were closely played as there were five ties and two lead changes. Kills by senior Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) and junior Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) evened the score at 16, but a kill from Gragg along with a trio of miscues gave MIT a 20-16 lead. An exchange of points followed until kills by first-year Julia Tolstova (Redlands, Calif.) and junior Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) clinched the 25-19 win.
- Set 2: Holding a 9-8 edge, a kill by Gibbs sparked a 9-3 run. The Beavers slowly battled back as an ace from first-year Sabina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) narrowed the gap to 22-20. After trading blocks, a kill by sophomore Eileen Sadati (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) gave the Engineers set point at 24-21. Following its own timeout, a kill from Gips kept Babson alive, however, a serving error thwarted the comeback attempt.
- Set 3: Babson jumped out to a 7-3 advantage after a kill by Gips. MIT responded with a kill by Gragg which ignited a 22-8 match-ending run that was capped by a kill from junior Claire Underwood (Yorba Linda, Calif.).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Tolstova posted 11 kills and a .375 hitting performance while Gibbs finished with 10 kills and a .529 hitting effort. Gragg tallied 11 digs, eight kills, and four aces as sophomore Kayleigh May (Camarillo, Calif.) dished out 31 assists. Senior Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) collected 17 digs while graduate student Ashley Margetts (Brownsburg, Ind.) added 13 of her own.
- Gips led all players with 13 kills while hitting .355 to go along with eight digs, a match-high six blocks, and two aces. Allen notched nine kills as sophomore Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) produced 27 assists and three blocks. Senior Tatum Stelter (Glendale, Ariz.) paced the Beavers with 17 digs while Frosk chipped in nine digs.
- This was the third consecutive postseason meeting between MIT and Babson. The Engineers defeated the Beavers in the 2022 title match and in the semifinals last year.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will host No. 3 seed Smith College in the NEWMAC Championship on Sunday, November 17 at 1:00 PM. This will be the first time both teams will meet for the conference crown since 1989, which was the last of three straight title matches. The Engineers swept the Pioneers in 1987 and 1989 but lost in two sets in 1988.
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