BOSTON – Simmons volleyball (12-8) took nationally-ranked, No. 23 Babson College (19-2) to five sets, before falling, 3-2, on Tuesday evening. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Babson 25, Simmons 22
Babson jumped out to an early 8-1 lead, forcing the Sharks to call their first time out of the set. But despite being down Simmons showed incredible resilience and battled their way back to pull with two points, 23-21, late in the set.

The comeback was spearheaded by dominating Shark defense that registered eight total blocks. Sophomore Meghan Doxsee led the way with three block assists, followed up by senior Sydney Iannantuono's pair. 

Set 2: Simmons 25, Babson 20
Simmons carried its momentum into the second set that went back-and-forth early on. After calling a timeout late in the set, the Beavers pulled ahead by two, 19-17, but the Sharks had answer.

Taking advantage by three mistakes by the Beaver offense, junior outside hitter Claire Conners notched a pair of service aces to give the Sharks the 21-19 lead and they never looked back. They concluded the set period with an 8-1 run to tie up the match at 1-1. 

Set 3: Babson 25, Simmons 23
The Beavers jumped back on top by a game, claiming the third set, hitting .342 as a team with 18 kills on 38 attempts and just five errors. Martina Jankovic Chin was on fire for the Beavers, posting a .636 attack percentage with eight kills on 11 attempts.

Set 4: Simmons 25, Babson 21
With their backs against the wall once again in the match, the Sharks jumped out to an 8-4 lead following back-to-back kills by Conners and Iannantuono. Finding themselves down it forced the Beavers to call a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Babson looked to have gained some momentum. Utilizing a 9-3 run, the Beavers found themselves ahead 13-11 as the Sharks called their first timeout of the set.

It remained a tightly contested set until junior setter Kat Simeondis gave Simmons the 16-15 lead with a kill, which they would not relinquish and tied the match a two games a piece with the 25-21 win.

Set 5: Babson 15, Simmons 11
The deciding game five was another close barnburner. The Sharks took a two-point 7-5 lead early with kills from Conners and sophomore April Beatty, but the Beavers answered. Rattling off four straight points, they took a 9-7 lead and never turned back.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior outside hitter Claire Conners registered her third double-double of the season, tallying 20 kills and 10 digs, to go along with a pair of block assists.
• Sophomores Meghan Doxsee (3) and Nalani Majkia (2) combined to record five block assists.
•  Junior setter Kat Simeonidis picked up her fifth double-double – second straight – pacing the offense with 30 assists, while tallying 11 digs.

UP NEX
Simmons returns to GNAC play tomorrow night when they travel to Northfield, Vermont for a 6 p.m. tilt against Norwich University.