Wellesley Volleyball Rides Raucous Crowd to 3-2 Win Over Babson

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Darina Postupaka (Tinley Park, Ill.) came off the bench in the second set to spark Wellesley College volleyball to a 3-2 (18-25, 25-15, 28-26, 23-25, 15-10) New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory over Babson College in front of a raucous crowd on Tuesday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

The Blue improve to 18-5 overall, but more importantly are now 7-3 in NEWMAC matches. Wellesley will host a first round match-up when the conference tournament opens next Tuesday. Babson is now 18-8 (7-2 NEWMAC) with one game to play on their conference schedule.

Postupaka finished with 10 kills and seven total blocks for the Blue. Classmate Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) led all players with 22 kills, while senior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) chipped in with 13. Senior setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) racked-up 50 assists in the match, topping the 50-assist mark for the fourth time this season. Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) finished with a match-high 27 digs, while classmate Ashley Peng (San Diego, Calif.) and first year Nicole Doerges (San Marino, Calif.) each picked-up 15 digs. 

Sophomore Allie Puccio (New Hartford, N.Y.) put down 15 kills on 46 attempts to lead Babson. Sophomore Gaby Miller (Miami, Fla.) and junior Kristin Carosotto (East Greenwich, R.I.) each tallied 11 kills for the Beavers, who also got 40 assists and eight digs from junior Elizabeth Cameron (El Dorado Hills, Calif.). Senior libero Abby Beecher (Pittsford, N.Y.) totaled 20 digs to lead the Babson defense. Sophomore Cassidy Witten (Honolulu, Hawaii) added 14 digs in the setback.

After dropping a 25-18 final to Babson in set one, Postupaka and the Blue roared back for a 25-15 win in the second set. The Blue shut down the Babson attack to tie the match, limiting the visitors to a -.103 attack percentage en route to the victory. Postupaka finished the set with four kills and a block. 

With the match tied, the Blue battled to a 28-26 win in the third game to jump ahead in the match, 2-1. With Wellesley leading 23-19, Babson scored six of the next seven points in the set to take a 25-24 lead. A kill from Reece tied the match but Babson took a 26-25 lead on a Blue error. Wellesley followed with three straight points to clinch the set, as a Babson error put Wellesley ahead in the match. 

Only two points separated the teams in the fourth frame, but Babson rallied for their first win since the opening set to send the match to the fifth. The Beavers broke a 21-21 tie, capitalizing on a pair of Blue blunders while getting kills from Shannon Roseen (Malden, Mass.) and Puccio to clinch a 25-23 win. 

The Blue never trailed in the fifth set, taking an 8-2 lead as the teams switched sides. The Blue would go ahead 13-6 following a kill from Reece before clinching the match on another Reece kill.

Wellesley will close out the regular season when they host Brandeis on Thursday night at 7:00 PM. Babson will host Mount Holyoke and Worcester St in a trimatch this Saturday at 11:00 AM.