BABSON PARK, Mass. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy volleyball team fell in straight sets at New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rivals Babson College on Saturday by scores of 19-25, 18-25, and 21-25.

Abby Schweitzer (Emmaus, Pa.) led Coast Guard's attack once again, tallying all ten of her points on kills, while Ava Ahokovi (Honolulu, Hawai'i) had a team-high 22 assists and Laila Baameur (Bakersfield, Calif.) recorded 16 digs.

The Bears move to 9-5 on the season and 1-3 in conference play, while Babson wins their sixth straight to improve to 9-3 overall and 3-0 against NEWMAC opponents. The Beavers will face another conference rival on Tuesday when they head to Boston to take on Emerson College (9-6, 3-0) at 7 p.m.

The first set saw the teams exchange leads up to an 11-10 advantage for Babson before the hosts made some space with a 9-1, making it a 20-11 game. Back-to-back kills by Dylan Elferdink (Hernando Beach, Fla.), who finished with three on the day, put an end to the streak. After some more back-and-forth ended with a 22-14 score, the Bears started to storm back by going on a 5-1 run of their own to get it to 23-19, but the Beavers were able to snuff the fire with a kill by Alisa Munro before Zoe Ackerman put it away with an ace.

Set two opened with both teams trading 6-1 runs before the hosts were able to extend their lead to 18-12. The Bears once again rallied, scoring five straight points with the assistance of two kills from Schweitzer and one from Eloise Shirley (Rock Island, Ill.), but Babson matched it to set the game at 23-17. Coast Guard got one more on another kill by Schweitzer, but the Beavers closed it out with two points again to take a commanding match advantage. Shirley had 3.5 points thanks to two kills, a solo block, and a block assist.

A four-point run by Babson was the longest streak of the third set, which proved to be the closest of the day. The biggest lead for both teams was four points, with Coast Guard holding a 7-3 advantage early on after a Julia Gallinger(Garrison, N.Y.) ace, while Babson's came later in the form of a 20-16 lead. Gallinger's ace was her lone point in the match and the tenth service score of the year for the defensive specialist.

With Coast Guard leading 14-13, a kill by Angelina Holm set off a four-point run for the Beavers. The game eventually reached the aforementioned 20-16 lead for the hosts before the Bears were able to get back within two late, at 20-22. Back-to-back kills by Babson set up match-point, and Sam Ventimiglia (Key West, Fla.) scored the last point of the match for her team on a feed from Ahokovi before a Bears attack error completed the hosts' sweep. It was one of two kills for Ventimiglia, who also recorded an ace and a dig.

Coast Guard had trouble keeping up with the Beavers at the net, where Babson hit .253 (38/99, 13 errors) for the match while the Bears hit just .105 (31/86, 22 errors). The hosts also outmatched their guests on the defensive side, holding an 8-2 lead in blocks. Coast Guard held a 41-30 match lead in digs, with Ahokovi and Amelia Matson (Mililani, Hawai'i) recording a respective eight and seven without either player recording a reception error. Matson contributed six points to the final score, all on kills. 

Bears volleyball will be looking to bounce back on Tuesday when they host NEWMAC foes Wellesley College (7-6, 2-2). The Blue handed Coast Guard a crushing five-set defeat in last year's meeting, which saw Matson record 17.0 points on 16 kills and two block assists.