BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Junior middle hitter Elle Rimando led the Mount Holyoke volleyball team to an impressive effort against a first-place opponent on Tuesday night, as the host Babson Beavers came from behind for a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18) NEWMAC win.
With its 12th consecutive victory, Babson improves to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. Mount Holyoke dropped to 8-7 overall and 0-5 in the NEWMAC. It was only the second time an opponent has taken a set from the Beavers in NEWMAC matches this season.
Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) paced Mount Holyoke with 12 kills, four blocks and three aces.
Mount Holyoke attacked at a .138 percentage, the Lyons' best rate against a NEWMAC opponent this year, including a .360 rate for Rimando. Senior Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) pounded 10 kills to go with nine digs and junior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) added nine kills.
Sophomore libero Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) posted 23 digs with three aces, while junior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) passed out 31 assists.
Isabella Allen provided 14 kills and 15 digs, Zoe Ackerman totaled 44 assists and Tatum Stelter contributed 24 digs to lead the Beavers.
The opening set featured 15 ties and nine lead changes with the teams never separated by more than three points. Mount Holyoke went in front for good thanks to back-to-back kills by Barton and Berclaz, and Rimando followed up an ace by Staples with a kill of her own to close out the set and give the Lyons a 1-0 lead.
Babson trailed by as many as four early in the second set, but scored four straight points to pull even and then forged an 18-16 lead on a kill by Allen and an ace by Ackerman. The Lyons answered with a 7-3 run to go back in front 23-21 on kill by Barton before the Beavers used a kill from Gips and three errors by the visitors to even the match at a set apiece.
The third set was deadlocked at 13 before Babson closed on a 12-4 run that included four kills by Allen and five service aces by four different players. The hosts hit .467 while recording 16 kills in the frame.
The Beavers trailed 6-1 early in the fourth but responded with a 10-3 spurt to go in front. Mount Holyoke pulled even on six occasions, the last coming at 17-17 before the hosts ran off seven consecutive points.
The Lyons will host the University of Hartford on Friday at 6pm, while also celebrating Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night, with recognition of the student-athletes' invited guests to take place between the second and third sets.
