WALTHAM, Mass. — Sophomore
Chaniel Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and first-year
Alessandra Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador), the younger two of the team's two sets of sisters, were winners in both singles and doubles as No. 17 Babson College knocked off No. 25 Brandeis University, 4-3, in non-conference women's tennis action Saturday afternoon inside Red Auerbach Arena.
Junior
Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) was also a double winner for the Beavers, including a singles win and pairing with senior
Olivia Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) for a triumph at number one doubles.
With the victory, Babson starts the season at 1-0 while the Judges drop to 0-5 on the season with all five losses coming to nationally-ranked teams.
The Beavers claimed the first point of the match with victories in two of the three doubles encounters. Brandeis seniors Cecelia Denis (Ardmore, Pa.) and Anastasia Sia (Thessaloniki, Greece) defeated sophomore
Dana Kamal (Cairo, Egypt) and junior
Kamila Stasiowska (Burlington, Conn.) at number three, 6-2, but Olivia and Matia downed junior Rebecca Suarez (Huntington, N.Y.) and senior Bhakti Parwani (Ahmedabad, India) at number one, 6-4, and Chaniel and Alessandra were 7-5 winners over sophomore Chahana Budhbhatti (Ahmedabad, India) and junior Nancy Zhang (Shanghai, China) at number two.
Matia Cristiani registered the first singles win for Babson with a 6-2, 6-1 verdict over Parwani.
Olivia Soffer, ranked eighth in Division III singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), was taken down by Suarez at number one singles, 7-5, 6-4, for Brandeis' first point.
Alessandra Cristiani defeated Zhang at number four singles, 6-2, 6-1, and
Chaniel Soffer clinched the team victory by outlasting Budhbhatti at number three, 7-6 (7-0), 4-6, 6-2.
The Judges pulled out the last two singles matches with Sia defeating first-year
Sarai Dorismond (Carlsbad, Calif.) at number five, 6-3, 6-1, and first-year Charly Saltz (Natick, Mass.) downing Stasiowska at number six, also 6-3, 6-1.
Babson next heads to California for spring break with the opening match on the trip at No. 39 Chapman on March 16 in Orange, Calif. Brandeis plays at Colby on March 16.
