BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team's historic 2025 season ended Tuesday night with a valiant effort in a 3-1 (25-13, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16) loss at Babson College in the NEWMAC quarterfinals.

No. 7 seeded Mount Holyoke (15-14) made its first playoff appearance since 2006 a memorable one after No. 2 seed Babson (21-6) took a 1-0 lead with a convincing first-set win.

The Lyons fought point for point with the host Beavers in the second set, which included 16 ties and four lead changes, until Babson pulled away from an 18-18 tie to win 25-20.

Facing elimination in the third set, the Lyons extended their season with a win in another back-and-forth frame. The 10th tie of the set came at 23-23, where Mount Holyoke called timeout after two straight points by the Beavers. Senior Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) delivered a kill, then served on the winning point thanks to a Babson attack error.

The Beavers retook control of the match in the fourth and final set, taking a 7-1 lead and allowing Mount Holyoke no closer than within three points the rest of the way. Senior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) kept the Lyons competitive with six kills on 14 attempts in the set (.357).

Rimando finished with 17 kills on 39 attempts (.256), Barton added 14 kills on 53 attempts (.053), and sophomore Olivia Murray (Miami, Fla.) had 11 kills on 12 attempts (.304).

Senior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) had 39 assists and nine digs, and senior Amelia Ringor (Lafayette, Ind.) had a team-high 11 digs.

Liberty May led Babson with 14 kills, with Angelina Holm adding 13 kills on just 23 attempts (.522). The Beavers advanced to meet No. 3 seed Springfield in the NEWMAC semifinals this weekend at top-seeded MIT.

The match capped a landmark season for the Lyons:

• Their most victories and most conference victories since 1994;
• Their second winning record since 1992;
• Their first playoff appearance since 2006;
• The team's career records for kills, assists, and digs were all broken, by Barton, Duffrin, and junior Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.), respectively;
• Rimando and Barton finished first and second, respectively, in the NEWMAC in both kills and points per set, and both won two NEWMAC Player of the Week honors apiece.
• Rimando finished the season with 414 kills, only four shy of the team single-season record set by Emily Groth in 2006.