No. 15 Women's Tennis at No. 13 Amherst
Saturday, April 26 | 1:30 p.m. 
 Amherst Tennis Courts | Amherst, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 0-4 all-time against Amherst in a series that foes back to 2014.
• The team met three straight years from 2014-16 at the Nor'Easter Bowl hosted by Wellesley College, when the Mammoths were ranked No. 4 in Division III.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Deliala Friedman captured victories in both doubles and singles as eighth-ranked Amherst won twice in doubles and three times in singles to defeat ninth-ranked Babson, 5-3, in the NCAA Tournament regional final on May 7, 2023 at the Amherst Tennis Courts.
• Senior Olivia Soffer and junior Matia Cristiani paired up for a win at number one doubles for the Beavers and then posted straight-set victories at number one and two singles, respectively.
• Friedman was joined in the doubles win column by junior Sophie Diop and seniors Amy Cui and Katie Hart, while Calista Sha '23 and junior Maddie Swire also collected singles victories for the Mammoths.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 15 Babson (12-4, 6-2 NEWMAC) brings a three-match winning streak into the weekend after defeating Wheaton on Tuesday, 7-0, in Norton, Mass.
• Matia Cristiani, sophomore Chaniel Soffer and first-year Alessandra Cristiani captured victories in both singles and doubles for the Beavers. Juniors Grace Starcher and Shyla Khattar and sophomore Riya Matharoo also posted singles wins, and Olivia Soffer, sophomore Dana Kamal and first-year Mia Sorrentino were on winning doubles teams.
• Olivia Soffer (22-4) has won 12 straight matches at No. 1 singles and Matia (21-1) has won 16 in a row at No. 2. Chaniel Soffer (16-6) and Alessandra Cristiani (16-7) are tied for third on the team in victories, and Starcher (13-4) and first-year Sarai Dorismond (10-8) have reached double figures in singles wins.
• Olivia and Matia are 19-2 this year in doubles, including 11-1 at No. 1 in dual matches. Chaniel and Alessandra are 10-5 as Babson's No. 2 doubles team.

SCOUTING THE MAMMOTHS
• Amherst (10-6, 6-3 NESCAC) is coming off a 5-2 loss to No. 11 MIT last Saturday in Amherst.
• The Mammoths claimed the doubles point against MIT with wins in the second and third flights, as Cui and Hart registered a 6-3 decision at number two and sophomore Greta Stechschulte and senior Mia Kintiroglou were 7-5 winners at number three. First-year Tina She earned a victory at number five singles.
• Sophomore Lily Dounchis has a 13-12 record at number one singles, Cui is 15-7 at number two, and Friedman is 7-9 at number three. Diop has posted a 10-6 mark at number four, She is 18-7 at number five and Stechschulte is 9-10 at number six.
• Dounchis and Friedman have recorded a 16-7 mark at number one doubles, Cui and Hart are 17-7 at number two, and Stechschulte and Kintiroglou are 18-8 at number three.

OLIVIA/MATIA NAMED NEWMAC DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK
• For the second time this week, Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani were named the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubles team of the week on Monday.
• The Babson duo continued their stellar play by going 3-0 at number one doubles to extend their winning streak to eight matches.
• Olivia has earned NEWMAC weekly honors three times in doubles and twice in singles this spring while Matia received the honors twice in doubles and once in singles.

NATIONALLY RANKED FOES
• Saturday's encounter at Amherst will be the 11th Babson match this spring against teams ranked in the ITA Division III poll.
• The Beavers are 6-4 in the first 10 encounters, with wins over No. 25 Brandeis, No. 39 Chapman, No. 22 Redlands, No. 29 Caltech, No. 29 Colby, and No. 17 Case Western Reserve, and losses to No. 8 Middlebury, No. 24 Wellesley, No. 3 Emory, and No. 11 MIT.

ITA RANKINGS
• Babson has two of the top 15 players in the ITA Division III singles rankings that were released on Wednesday as Olivia Soffer is ranked third and Matia Cristiani is 15th. Olivia is also second in the Northeast region and Matia is sixth in the region.
• The team of Olivia and Matia is also ranked third in Division III and first in the region in doubles.
• Cui is the top-ranked Amherst player in singles at No. 33 and Dounchis is 41st. Dounchis and Freidman are also ranked 22nd in doubles.

BEAVER BITES
• Olivia and Matia have both reached the 40-win plateau in combined singles and doubles this season, a mark reached only seven times in program history (three each by Olivia and Matia and once by Yagmur Akgul in 2014-15).
• A Babson women's tennis player has recorded at least 20 singles wins in a season nine times in program history, four by Olivia, three by Matia and one each by Daniela Hofer in 2001-02 and Akgul in 2014-15.
• Olivia's 43 singles and doubles victories this season rank fifth on the program's career list for combined wins in a season, and Matia's 40 combined victories rank tied for sixth.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers have gone 15-1 at number one and two singles, as well as 13-3 at number three and 11-5 at both number four and six.
• Babson has secured the doubles point in 14 of its 16 matches and is 15-1 at number one doubles. 

UP NEXT
• The Beavers have earned the third seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament and will host a quarterfinal match on Tuesday at the Babson Tennis Courts.