Volleyball Outlasts UMass-Dartmouth, Roger Williams To Reach 10-Win Mark

BOX SCORE VS. UMASS-DARTMOUTH | BOX SCORE VS. ROGER WILLIAMS

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Babson College women's volleyball team continued its incredible start to the 2008 season with two more victories on Saturday, as the Beavers defeated both UMass-Dartmouth and Roger Williams in grueling five-set battles as part of a Reunion Weekend tri-match at Staake Gymnasium. With the wins, Babson improved to 10-3 on the season, marking the earliest point in the year that the program has reached 10 victories since the Beavers started off 10-2 back in 1993.

In Saturday's neutral site match, Roger Williams (10-6) defeated UMass-Dartmouth (5-5) by a score of 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-13).

Babson jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opener, but UMass-Dartmouth fought back to win sets three and four. The Beavers finally put the match away with an impressive final set, hitting .368 as a team with no errors to finish off the 3-2 (26-24, 25-14, 23-25, 20-25, 15-3) win. First-year Meg Flaherty (Hollis, N.H.) once again paced the Green and White with 20 kills to go along with 19 digs, while fellow rookie Anna Belz (Bayport, N.Y.) collected 49 assists. Junior libero Shanna Glassner (Orland Park, Ill.) continued her strong play with 47 digs while matching Flaherty with three service aces, and junior Caitlin O'Neill (Lynnfield, Mass.) and senior tri-captain Becca Rydzik (Beacon Falls, Conn.) added 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Senior tri-captain Amanda Medin (Baltimore, Md.) also had a stellar match, amassing nine kills with just two errors to go with four total blocks, and sophomore Laura Duston (Nashua, N.H.) finished with seven kills and no miscues for a .304 mark.

The Beavers' second match of the afternoon was another five-set thriller, with neither the hosts nor Roger Williams winning a set by more than five points. Babson finally began pulling away from the visitors in the fifth and final set, jumping out to an 11-7 lead. The Hawks fought back and trailed by just three at 13-10, but O'Neill came up with a monster block on Roger Williams' top hitter Erica DoVale (Hope, R.I.) to give her team four straight match points. Moments later, Flaherty hammered her team-high 16th kill of the match to finish off the 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) win.

In addition to her 16 kills, Flaherty also amassed 17 digs in the team's second win of the day. O'Neill had another big match with 13 kills and three total blocks, while Medin chipped in with seven kills and three blocks of her own. Belz handed out 44 assists, Glassner recorded 23 digs, and senior tri-captain Ryan DePaoli (Kennesaw, Ga.) added 12 digs and a team-high three aces.

The upstart Beavers' accomplishments continue to pile up, as the team reached double-digit victories just 13 games into the season. They have already surpassed the program's win totals from 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and are just one victory away from matching last year's 11-win mark. They are off to their best overall start since the 1993 campaign which saw the team finish 22-8, and their 3-0 record in the NEWMAC is the program's best conference start since 1992.

Babson returns to action this Tuesday, when they host another key NEWMAC matchup against Mount Holyoke College at 7 p.m.