CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Bowdoin College volleyball team took a pair of close first sets and then shrugged off a third set loss to Babson College to take a 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20) win.

The Polar Bears (25-4) avenged an early season loss to the Beavers (28-9) in their second round of the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Regional at MIT. The Polar Bears will look to do the same on Sunday against the Engineers, who bested them 3-0 way back on September 12.

How It Happened

• Babson took an early 6-3 lead in the first set, but three early kills by Christy Jewett helped keep Bowdoin close. The Polar Bears battled back to tie the set at 14-all on a kill from Hailey Wahl. Babson pulled ahead again, but a put away from Sydney Salle tied the match at 21-21. The Polar Bears regained the lead and took the set 25-22.
• The Beavers jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, and continued to roll to a 16-12 advantage before Bowdoin battled back to even the score at 17-17 off a Jewett ace. The sides traded one-point leads until Bowdoin came away with the 26-24 set two win off an attack and Beaver ball handling error.
• Bowdoin fell into a 9-7 hole to begin the third set, and never recovered.  The Beavers went on a 9-2 run which had them leading 19-9 before Bowdoin would close within 21-17, but run out of time to complete the comeback.
• The Polar Bears raced to an 8-2 lead to start the fourth set, followed by a 6-1 run from the Beavers. A kill from Michelle Albright started a 9-3 run for Bowdoin to put them ahead 20-13 as the Polar Bears closed out Babson to advance.

By the Numbers

• Jewett had 20 kills for Bowdoin, with Salle and Wahl adding 10 each.
• The Polar Bears out hit Babson, .150-.126, with the Beavers totaling 11 blocks to six for Bowdoin.
• Mackiewicz led Babson with 11 kills, with Yilmaz finishing with nine kills and six blocks for the Beavers.
• Leech had 39 assists and an ace for Bowdoin, while Robertson led Babson with 17 assists.

Up Next

• With the win the Polar Bears move to the regional championship tomorrow at MIT starting at 2:00 p.m.
• It is the third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance that the Polar Bears have reached the regional final: Bowdoin has lost to Williams (2014) and UMass-Boston (2012) in its previous two appearances.
• Bowdoin ended MIT's season in the Second Round in 2014, beating the Engineers 3-2 last fall