No. 15 Women's Tennis at No. 16 Wellesley
NEWMAC Tournament Semifinal
Saturday, May 3 | 12 p.m. 
The Amy Batchelor '88, Trustee, Tennis Courts | Wellesley, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 14-34 all-time against Wellesley in a series that dates back to 1989.
•    The Beavers have won four of their last five and 11 of the last 15 matches between the teams since the fall of 2015. 
•    Despite its success against the Blue over the last decade, the Green and White has dropped 10 of its last 11 road matches versus its crosstown rival with the only win during this stretch coming back in 2018. 

POSTSEASON HISTORY
•    Babson is 6-7 all-time against Wellesley in the conference playoffs and Saturday's match marks the eighth time the teams will met in the NEWMAC semifinals going back to the fall of 2014. 
•    The Beavers have won four straight and six of their last seven conference tournament matches versus the Blue, which includes a 5-0 triumph in 2024. 
•    Saturday's match will be the first in the postseason played at Wellesley. 

LAST MEETING
•    In a match that took more than eight hours, the Blue rallied to win the final three singles points to defeat Babson, 4-3, on March 30 in Wellesley, Mass. 
•    Leading 1-0 after doubles, the Beavers got three-set singles victories from senior Olivia Soffer at number one and first-year Alessandra Cristiani at number three to build a 3-1 advantage in the match. 
•    Suzanne Xu at number two, Nandini Patel at number five and Rianna Mariotti at number six all rallied for wins after dropping the opening set for Wellesley, which also got a straight-set triumph from Sophie Buttorff at number four singles. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Third-seeded and 15th-ranked Babson (13-5) advanced to the NEWMAC semifinals for the 13th consecutive tournament with a 4-0 quarterfinal win over sixth-seeded Wheaton on Tuesday. 
•    Junior Grace Starcher recorded victories in both singles and doubles, while Alessandra Cristiani and sophomore Chaniel Soffer also captured points in singles for the Beavers, who won their 10th consecutive home playoff contest. 
•    Third-ranked Olivia Soffer is 23-4 overall and 13-1 this spring at number one singles, 15th-ranked junior Matia Cristiani is 22-1 in all matches and 12-0 at number two, Alessandra Cristiani is 18-7 overall and 7-4 at number four, and Chaniel Soffer is 17-7 in all matches and 8-4 at third singles. 
•    Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani are 19-2 overall and 12-1 at number one singles, Chaniel Soffer and Alessandra Cristiani have gone 9-6 at number two, and the duo of sophomore Dana Kamal and first-year Mia Sorrentino are 4-2 this spring with three wins at number three. 

SCOUTING THE BLUE
•    Second-seeded and 16th-ranked Wellesley (15-3), which is making is 19th straight NEWMAC Tournament semifinal appearance, concluded the regular season with a 7-0 victory at Clark back on April 22. 
•    Mariotti, Patel, Kriti Saray and Veda Madhusudan were all winners in both singles and doubles for the Blue, which has recorded its most victories since the 2015-16 campaign and is seeking its first trip to the conference title match since the fall of 2016. 
•    Kotistha Modak is 9-4 at number one singles, Xu is 13-6 overall and 8-3 at number two, Sofia Corte-Real is 13-5 in all matches and 8-3 at number three, and Patel (15-4) leads the team in wins and went 4-2 against league foes this spring. 
•    Modak and Corte-Real are 7-5 this spring at number one doubles, Mariotti and Emilee Pak are 7-2 with four wins at number two, and the duo of Cade and Sarav are 7-3 overall and 4-2 at number three. 

 BEAVERS SWEEP NEWMAC WEEKLY AWARDS
•    Matia Cristiani was selected as the league's singles player of the week for the second time this spring, while she and Olivia Soffer was tabbed the conference's doubles team of the week for the third time this season on Monday.
•    Cristiani was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Wheaton's Greenlee at number one last Tuesday and then edged 33-ranked ranked Amy Cui of Amherst, 6-4, 6-4, at number two singles on Saturday. 
•    Soffer and Cristiani ran their winning streak to 10 matches with victories over Greenlee and Ortiz of Wheaton and 22nd-ranked Lily Dounchis and Delialia Friedman of Amherst on Saturday in a rematch of last year's NCAA doubles semifinals. 

BREAK POINT
•    The 16th-ranked Beavers are looking to follow in the footsteps of the program's 2022 squad, which suffered a 6-3 regular season loss at Wellesley before defeating the Blue in the conference semifinals just 11 days later, 5-3. 
•    The only player on either team competing on Saturday that took part in the 2022 conference semifinal contest is Olivia Soffer, who paired with Adele Fernandez for an 8-6 win at number doubles before recording a 6-2, 7-5 triumph at number one singles. 

POSTSEASON SUCCESS
•    Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani, who are currently ranked third in Division III, are 6-0 all-time at number one doubles in the postseason. 
•    Soffer is 5-0 in NEWMAC and NCAA Tournament play at number one singles, while Cristiani is 6-0 in her career at number two. 

BEAVERS IN THE POSTSEASON
•    Babson is 8-10 all-time in the semifinal round of the NEWMAC Tournament, but has advanced to six straight conference finals going back to 2018. 
•    The Beavers have won five consecutive semifinal matches since 2018 and are 7-1 dating back to the fall of 2014.
•    The Green and White is 3-7 over its last 10 NEWMAC Tournament matches away from Babson Park dating back to 2014.
•    Babson has captured NEWMAC Tournament championships in 2003 and 2014. 

STREAKING BEAVERS
•    Matia Cristiani has won 17 straight singles matches, Olivia Soffer has won 13 in a row, and both Starcher and Alessandra Cristiani have won five consecutive singles matches. 
•    Junior Riya Matharoo, who won the opening set at number five singles on Tuesday versus Wheaton, and classmate Shyla Khattar have both won four singles matches in a row.
•    Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani have won 10 consecutive matches at number one doubles, while Matharoo and Starcher won their fourth in a row on Tuesday at third doubles. 

TRENDS TO WATCH
•    The Beavers are 13-2 on the year when winning the doubles point.
•    Babson is 11-1 on the year when winning at number three doubles.
•    The Green and White is 9-0 when recording a victory at number five singles and 11-0 when capturing a point at number six singles. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Saturday's match will face either top-seeded and seventh-ranked MIT or fourth-seeded Springfield in Sunday's NEWMAC final.