BRUNSWICK, Maine — For the third year in a row, junior Matia Cristiani (Miami, Fla.) and senior Olivia Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) both won a pair of singles matches and combined for a victory in doubles highlighting the opening day of competition at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Championships at Bowdoin College.

Cristiani, who is the defending champion and top seed in the 64-player singles draw, defeated Karolina Dobiecka of Amherst 6-2, 6-4 and Waka Aida of Colby 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the round of 16 for the third year in a row. Soffer, who is the 2022 champion and second seed in the singles draw, defeated Lizzie Frekko of Bates 6-0, 6-1 and Julia Ross of Bowdoin 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the round of 16 for the fourth consecutive season.

The top seed in the doubles bracket after winning the championship a year ago, Soffer and Cristiani received a first-round bye on Friday before defeating Amelia Gal and Aida of Colby, 8-3, to move into the round of 16 for the third straight year.

First-year Sarai Dorismond (Carlsbad, Calif.) won back-to-back singles matches to advance to the round of 16, defeating Amy Cui of Amherst 6-0, 6-3 and Selma Petrie of MIT 6-1, 6-2. She and fellow first-year Alessandra Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) received a first-round bye in doubles but were defeated by Karolina Dobiecka and Tina She of Amherst, 8-1, in the second round.

Sophomore Chaniel Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) posted a victory over Ella Baker of Trinity, 7-5, retired, in the first round of the singles bracket, but went down to defeat to Jamilah Karah of Bowdoin in a second-round heartbreaker, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Soffer and junior Elena Keitt (Austin, Texas) also suffered a first-round loss in the doubles bracket.

Sophomores Dana Kamal (Cairo, Egypt) and Riya Matharoo (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) registered a victory over Caitlin Cass and Lily Kerachsky of Connecticut College in the first round, 8-4, but were knocked out by Amy Cui and Katie Hart of Amherst in the second round, 8-4.

Babson had six entries in the B singles bracket. Alessandra Cristiani, the fifth seed in the bracket, and Keitt both first-round byes before posting victories in the second round as Cristiani defeated Ellie Stark of Williams, 8-4, while Keitt got past Lilly Kerachsky of Connecticut College, 8-4. Junior Shyla Khattar (New Delhi, India) also advanced to Saturday's Round of 16 with a pair of wins, which included an 8-6 upset of top-seeded Greta Stechschulte of Amherst in the second round, while classmate Grace Starcher (Morristown, N.J.) cruised past Kelly McGoldrick of Springfield 8-3 in the first round and beat Marie Frati of Bowdoin 7-6 (7-3) in the second round. 

Junior Mariana Campos (Houston, Texas) defeated Drew Williams of Bates, 8-3, in the first round before dropping an 8-4 decision to Sophia Min of MIT in round two. Kamal received a first round bye and suffered an 8-6 loss to Amalie Gal of Colby in the second round. 

The tournament continues Saturday with round of 16 matches in both singles and doubles.