THE BASICS 

Score: No. 22 Babson 3, Emerson 1

Records: Emerson Lions (8-5, 3-3 NEWMAC) ; No. 22 Babson Beavers (14-1, 6-1 NEWMAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym)

Date: October 5, 2021

The Lead: Despite a 12-kill night by freshman Amelia Combs, the Emerson women's volleyball team was upended by the No. 22 Babson Beavers, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Brown & Plofker Gym. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Combs: 12 kills & 13 digs
Parker Cummings: 10 kills 
Rachel Scott: 22 assists
Caroline Davis: two aces & 19 digs

BABSON

Lauren MacDonald: 15 kills
Ruby Reich: 44 assists
Tatum Stelter: three aces
Maddie Malee: 25 digs
Erin Gray: three blocks

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Emerson kept pace with Babson through much of the first frame despite the Beavers holding several leads of as much as four. Towards the end of the set, Emerson held their ground and maintained a steady one-point deficit at 23-22 after a bad seat by the Beavers. It was Babson, however, that wrapped the set with the final two points on a Lions attack error and kill by Allie Puccio. 
• Despite once again keeping pace with Babson to start off, the Lions fell into a seven-point hole in the second after a 7-1 Beavers streak that put the hosts back 12-5. Emerson fired back and rattled off six straight points to close in within a pair (12-10). 
• The visitors once again upped their advantage to seven after they set off on a 5-0 streak (18-11). Emerson managed to scrape back five more points, but Babson was able to lock up the second set win (25-16). 
• Babson took off with a 4-1 lead in the early moments of the third only to see Emerson quickly take off with four straight points to claim its first lead of the match at 5-4 on an ace from Davis. The Beavers reclaimed the lead behind a 4-0 run (8-6), but the Lions did not back down and jumped back in front (12-9) thanks to a 6-1 streak that was capped by a kill from Combs. 
• Emerson took off and ballooned its lead to seven, their biggest lead over Babson, at 17-10 on a run that included two swings apiece from the freshman duo of Combs and Cummings. The Lions were able to keep the Beavers behind as the hosts held their seven-point lead as a swing from junior Logan Steenbergen locked down the 25-19 win. 
• Babson registered a hit percentage of .278 in the fourth set and held the Lions to a double-digit deficit for much of the frame as the hosts fell 25-13. 

UP NEXT 

• Emerson steps out of NEWMAC play and continues its home stand on Friday night when they welcome crosstown foe, Wentworth, at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 8.