Box Score BABSON PARK, Mass. — No. 11 MIT won two of the three sets to claim the doubles point and that proved to be the difference as the Engineers pulled out a 4-3 victory over No. 14 Babson College in a close New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's tennis match Friday afternoon at the Babson Tennis Courts.

With the loss, Babson had its two-match winning streak snapped and dropped to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in the NEWMAC while MIT won its eighth straight match and improved to 12-2 overall and 7-0 in conference play.

Senior Olivia Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) led the Beavers, teaming up for wins in the top doubles flight and the top two singles flights. Sophomore Dana Kamal (Cairo, Egypt) also posted a victory at sixth singles for the Green and White.

Senior Jay Lu (Austin, Texas) and sophomore Saina Deshpande (Pune, India) were winners in both singles and doubles for the Engineers. Junior Alaina Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) won her singles match at number five, and sophomore Anastasia Samets (Ocean, N.J.) and first-year Chloe Zeng (Austin, Texas) were on winning doubles teams for the visitors.

Soffer and Cristiani captured the number one doubles match to open the day for the Beavers, taking down Kolli and junior Artemis Pados (Delray Beach, Fla.), 6-3. The Engineers came out on top in the other two flights as Lu and Zeng defeated sophomore Chaniel Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and first-year Alessandra Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) at number two, 6-3, and Deshpande and Samets clinched the doubles point for MIT with a victory over Kamal and first-year Mia Sorrentino (Miami, Fla.) at number three, 6-4.
 
The Beavers came back to take a 3-1 lead with victories in the first three singles matches to be completed. Matia Cristiani breezed past Zeng at number two, 6-0, 6-1; Olivia Soffer defeated first-year Fiona Lee (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) in the marquis match at number one, 6-4, 6-1; and Kamal was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Samets at number six.
 
The Engineers pulled out the team victory with winning decisions in the remaining three singles matches. Kolli defeated junior Kamila Stasiowska (Burlington, Conn.) in a tight match at number five, 6-4, 6-2; Deshpande put away Alessandra Cristiani at number four, 6-3, 6-3; and Lu outlasted Chaniel Soffer in the deciding match at number three, 6-3, 7-5.

The Beavers will be back on the courts on Saturday with a NEWMAC match at Springfield at 1:30 p.m. MIT plays a non-conference match at No. 13 Amherst on Saturday at 3 p.m.

MATCH NOTES
• Babson is 7-53 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 campaign, with four straight losses since defeating the Engineers back in 2023.
• The Beavers are 6-4 this spring against teams ranked in the ITA Top 40.
• The Green and White lost for just the fifth time in 31 regular season matches against NEWMAC foes going back to 2021.
• Oliva Soffer won her 11th straight singles match to improve to 21-4 this spring, Matia Cristiani won her 14th in a row to improve to 19-1, and they have won eight consecutive matches at number one doubles to improve to 16-2.