Wellesley Volleyball Drops NEWMAC Opener to Babson, 3-1

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Senior Lauren MacDonald (Westwood, Mass.) and first year Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) each recorded seven kills to lead visiting Babson College to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-11, 22-25, 25-17) victory over Wellesley College volleyball in New England Women's and Men's Athletics Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday evening at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

First year libero Roz Cabuena (Kailua, Hawaii) had a match-high 19 digs for Babson (7-1 Overall, 1-0 NEWMAC) in the victory. First year Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) collected 15 digs in the setback for the Blue (3-4 overall, 0-1 NEWMAC). 

Paced by MacDonald and Allen, nine different Babson players recorded at least three kills in the match. Graduate student, and former Wellesley standout, setter Izzy Seebold (Concord, N.C.) dished out 19 assists in two sets for Babson. Ruby Reich added 13 assists in the final two sets for the Beavers.

Junior Kate Salembier (Sierra Madre, Calif.), sophomore Jennifer Yu (Shanghai, China) and first year Kennedy Mayo (Long Branch, N.J.) each had six kills for the Blue but Wellesley struggled to find a consistent rhythm on offense, finishing the match with an .028 attacking percentage. Salembier added seven digs for Wellesley and senior TylerBell Smith (Frisco, Texas) had three aces. 

Babson never trailed in the first set as the Beavers cruised to a 25-17 victory. The momentum continued into the second frame, where a brief 2-1 Wellesley lead was erased by a 5-0 Babson run that was capped by a service ace from Lauren Gips (Orlando, Fla.). Babason went on to dominante the remainder of the set, cruising to a 25-11 win. 

Wellesley rallied to avoid the sweep in the third set, earning a 25-22 victory when a service ace from Smith clinched the final point of a back-and-forth frame. However, Babson countered in the fourth set to close out the match. Trailing 8-5, Babson rallied for five consecutive points to take a 10-8 lead. Wellesley rallied to tie the match at 12-12 but Babson scored 9 of the next ten points to take control of the set, 21-13. The Beavers would go on to close out the game on an ace by Cabuena. 

Wellesley and Babson will each continue NEWMAC play on Saturday at 1:00 PM. The Blue will travel to Springfield and Babson will play at Coast Guard.