BABSON PARK—Both the Babson College men's and women's tennis teams were well-represented when the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its first national and regional singles and doubles rankings of the 2025-26 season earlier this month.
Both squads had three players recognized, highlighted by senior
Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) coming in at No. 1 in women's singles. First-year
Tina Liu (Plantation, Fla.) is ranked 34th nationally and ninth in the northeast region in singles, while Cristiani and first-year
Sandra Sikharulidze (Kyiv, Ukraine) are ranked ninth nationally and first regionally in doubles.
The top ranking for the Babson men comes in doubles where sophomores
Sebastian Mendoza (Weston, Fla.) and
Edward Wang (Burr Ridge, Ill.) have ascended to No. 3 nationally in addition to claiming the top in the northeast region. Senior
Alexander Merson (Palisades Park, N.J.) is ranked 17th nationally in singles, while Wang will enter the spring at No. 42. Merson (4th), Wang (12th) and Mendoza (19th) are all among the top 20 in singles in the northeast region as well.
Cristiani added to an already stellar resume by winning ITA New England Championships singles and doubles titles before becoming the Beavers' first ITA Cup singles winner with four consecutive straight-set victories back in October. She is 16-0 this year and 96-4 for her career leaving her just three wins shy of
Olivia Soffer's '25 all-time record for singles wins.
Cristiani and Skiharulidze went 16-2 during the fall in doubles and became the second Babson duo to claim an ITA New England Championships title. They won their opening match at the ITA Cup to advance to the quarterfinals and went 2-1 at the event.
Liu went 8-2 in the fall, which was highlighted by winning a pair of three-set matches to reach the quarterfinals of the ITA New England Championships in late September.
Mendoza and Wang made history as the first Babson men's doubles pairing to qualify for the ITA Cup after winning the program's first ITA New England doubles championship. The went 15-1 overall in the fall with their lone loss coming against the top-ranked duo of Ajay Kartik and Matthew Johnstone of Emory in the ITA Cup semifinals.
Merson also made history during the fall as the first Babson player to advance to the semifinals of the singles draw at the ITA New England Championships. He recorded a pair of three-set victories in the opening rounds and defeated No. 18 Garv Bahl of Tufts in the semifinals before falling to fifth-ranked Mark Kneiss of Bowdoin in the semifinals to end the fall with an 8-1 record.
Wang went 5-2 in singles and advanced to the third round at the ITA New England Championships, while Mendoza finished the fall at 4-1 with his lone loss coming in the second round at the ITA New England Championship.
The Babson women will begin the spring portion of their schedule against Johns Hopkins on January 31, while the men open against Southern New Hampshire on February 1.
