No. 15 Women's Tennis vs. UMass Boston
NCAA Tournament | First Round
Friday, May 9 | 3 p.m.
Middlebury Outdoor Tennis Courts | Middlebury, Vt. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The Babson women's tennis team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Monday and is one of seven teams headed to Middlebury, Vt., for the opening weekend of play beginning on Friday. 

MIDDLEBURY REGIONAL SCHEDULE
First Round | Friday, May 9
SUNY New Paltz (12-7) vs. Albright (17-0), 9 a.m.
No. 13 Johns Hopkins (12-7) vs. Lesley (10-4), 12 p.m.
No. 14 Babson (14-6) vs. UMass Boston (14-2), 3 p.m.

Second Round | Saturday, May 10
No. 3 Middlebury (17-2) vs. SUNY New Paltz/Albright, 10 a.m. 
No. 13 Johns Hopkins/Lesley vs. No. 14 Babson/UMass Boston, 2 p.m.

Regional Final | Sunday, May 11
Second Round winners, 12 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson and UMass Boston will meet for the first time on Friday afternoon. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 4th
Best NCAA Finish: 2023 regional final 
•    No. 14 Babson (14-6) earned an at-large bid to the tournament after suffering a 4-2 loss to No. 8 MIT in the NEWMAC Tournament final on Sunday afternoon. 
•    Senior Olivia Soffer was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at number one singles and junior Matia Cristiani recorded a 6-1, 6-1 victory at number two singles for the Beavers, who were playing in their seventh consecutive league final. 
•    Fourth-ranked Olivia Soffer is 24-4 overall and 14-1 this spring at number one singles, eighth-ranked Matia Cristiani is 24-1 in all matches and 14-0 at number two, first-year Alessandra Cristiani (19-7) enters the NCAA Tournament with six consecutive wins, and sophomore Chaniel Soffer is 17-8 overall and 11-6 in dual matches. 
•    Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani, who are ranked fourth in Division III, are 20-2 overall and 13-1 at number one doubles, Alessandra Cristiani and Chaniel Soffer have gone 9-8 at number two, and the pairing of sophomore Dana Kamal and first-year Mia Sorrentino are 4-3 at number three doubles. 

SCOUTING THE BEACONS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 3rd
Best NCAA Finish: First round (2023, 2024)
•    UMass Boston (14-2) captured its third consecutive Little East Conference title with a 5-1 win over Rhode Island College all the way back in October. 
•    Zainab Patel and Lydia Chan teamed up for an 8-5 win at number one doubles and then cruised to straight-set victories in the top two singles matches for the Beacons, who captured their 31st straight triumph versus a conference foe over the last three seasons.
•    Patel (11-1) has won her last seven matches at number one singles, Chan is 12-3 overall and 9-2 at number two, and Ayonna Stuppard (9-3) and Elena Albano (9-2) went 6-2 in dual-match competition at number three and four, respectively. 
•    Patel and Chan finished the fall with an 11-2 mark at number two doubles, Stuppard and Albano went 11-0 with nine wins at number two, and the duo of Sandra Watson and Tatiana Malone won all seven of their matches at number three and are 8-0 overall on the year. 

BEAVERS IN THE POSTSEASON
•    All four of Babson's NCAA Tournament appearances as a team have come over the last 11 seasons.
•    The Green and White is 2-0 all-time in first round matches with wins over Colby-Sawyer (5-0) in 2015 and SUNY New Paltz (5-0) in 2021. 
•    The Beavers, who received a first round bye and defeated Endicott 5-0 in the second round in 2023, have won their opening match in each of their three previous NCAA Tournament appearances. 

FOUR EARN ALL-NEWMAC HONORS
•    Olivia Soffer was selected as the NEWMAC Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive season, and was joined in earning all-league honors by Matia Cristiani, Chaniel Soffer and Alessandra Cristiani. 
•    Olivia and Matia both collected all-league first-team accolades in both singles and doubles for the third year in a row, while Chaniel and Alessandra both garnered all-conference second-team singles honors for the first time in their respective careers. 

TOURNAMENT TESTED
•    Olivia Soffer is a perfect 6-0 at number one singles and 12-3 overall in both team and individual postseason singles matches over the last three seasons, while Matia Cristiani has gone 8-0 at number two singles and 12-2 in all NCAA and conference singles matches. 
•    The reigning NCAA Division III doubles champions, Soffer and Cristiani are 14-1 in the postseason with their only loss coming in the 2023 NCAA doubles final. 

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
•    The Beavers are 14-2 this season when winning the doubles point but 0-4 when trailing entering singles. 
•    Babson is 7-0 this spring versus opponents outside the ITA top-40 and 7-6 against nationally-ranked foes. 
•    Matia Cristiani has won 19 consecutive singles matches, Olivia Soffer boasts a 14-match winning streak in singles, and junior Grace Starcher has recorded five straight singles victories.
•    The Green and White is 12-1 this spring when winning at number three doubles, 10-0 when it wins at number five singles and 11-0 when recording a victory at number six singles. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Friday's match will face either No. 12 Johns Hopkins or Lesley at 2 p.m. on Saturday.