CLARMEONT, Calif.—Defending Division III national champions senior Olivia Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) won their opening round doubles match to highlight the opening day of the NCAA Championships on Saturday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

Soffer and Cristiani, who are seeded third, downed Sylwia Mikos (Willowbook, Ill.) and Oliwia Mikos (Willowbrook, Ill.) of Chicago 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of Saturday's singles draw. The Beavers' duo will face Brooke Despriet and Ansley Carpenter of Sewanee in Sunday's second round. 

Both Soffer and Cristiani also were among 32 players in the NCAA Singles bracket, and both won their opening round match before being defeated in the second round. 

Soffer was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Caitlin Bui (Bayside, N.Y.) of Washington University (Mo.) in her first match, before falling to Lane Durkin (Darien, Conn.) of Wesleyan in the second round, 6-4,6-4. The loss snapped Soffer's 17-match winning streak. 

Cristiani cruised through the first set and rallied from a 4-0 deficit to register a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Maegan Deng of Redlands before suffering a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Jacqueline Soloveychik (Bellevue, Wash.) of Wesleyan in the second round. Cristiani had won 20 consecutive matches since falling to Solveychik in the third round of ITA New England Championships back in September. 

Soffer and Cristiani are set to play their NCAA  quarterfinal on Sunday at 2 p.m.

TOURNAMENT NOTES
•    Soffer and Cristiani are now 8-1 all-time in the NCAA Doubles Championship over the last three seasons. 
•    Soffer finishes her career with a 7-4 record in NCAA singles matches, which includes advancing to the 2024 final.