BABSON PARK, Mass. - The Simmons College women's volleyball team was defeated in three sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-23) by host Babson College this evening at Staake Gymnasium in Babson Park, Mass. The Sharks fall to 9-11 on the season, while the Beavers improve to 16-11.

Babson hit .218 as a team and finished with 10 total blocks, marking the third time in the last five matches it has reached double digits.

First-year outside hitter Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) recorded 10 kills and three blocks, while senior middle blocker Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) added eight kills on a .316 hitting mark and two blocks to lead the Sharks. First-year Carly Wanner-Hyde (Newington, Conn.) finished with 19 assists and three block assists, while senior libero Alex Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.) picked up seven digs and fired a pair of aces. First-year Riana Pozgai (Medway, Mass.) contributed with seven digs as well.

Senior Lorraine Mackiewicz (Edison, N.J.) hit .789 and led all players with 16 kills, eight digs and seven blocks to lead the Beavers, while first-year Elizabeth Cameron (El Dorado Hill, Calif.) dished out a match-high 29 assists. Senior Jenny Karnes (Houston, Texas) finished with six kills and six digs, while sophomore Gizem Yilmaz (Istanbul, Turkey) added five kills and four blocks and first-year Kristin Carosotto (East Greenwich, R.I.) chipped in with two kills and five blocks in the win.

The Beavers got four kills from Mackiewicz and recorded five blocks while taking advantage of six Simmons service errors for a seven-point win in the opening set. With game two knotted at 16-16, Babson used four kills by Mackiewicz and another from senior Kristen Haislip (Waterford, Va.) as part of a closing 9-1 run for a two-set lead.

The Beavers jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the third set, but were never able to pull away from the Sharks, who cut their deficit to a single point on five occasions. Babson matched its biggest lead of the stanza at 23-19 on a kill by Mackiewicz and then used a Yilmaz kill and a service error by Simmons to end the match. 

The Sharks wrap up the regular season with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match at host Suffolk University on Saturday, October 29 starting at 11:00 a.m., while Babson closes out its regular season with matches on the same day against Roger Williams University at 2:00 p.m. and host Brandeis University at 4:00 p.m. in Waltham, Mass.