MARLBOROUGH, Mass.— Babson College first-year
Sandra Sikharulidze (Kyiv, Ukraine) earned her first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Tennis Singles Player of the Week award, and Sikharulidze and senior
Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) were tabbed as the NEWMAC Doubles Team of the Week for the third week in a row when the conference announced its weekly honors on Monday.
Sikharulidze had a terrific week in South Carolina going 3-0 at number two singles with a pair of victories over nationally-ranked opponents. She began the week with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 17th-ranked Eleanor Archer of No. 2 Washington University, followed it up with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 triumph over Agnes Guggenheim of No. 4 Wesleyan and then rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over 30th-ranked Lia Melvin of No. 13 Johns Hopkins for her sixth consecutive win.
The Babson rookie has produced a 12-4 singles record this season, including a 6-0 mark in dual matches at number two. She won her first two matches to advance to the round of 16 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Regionals back in September.
Cristiani and Sikharulidze extended their winning streak to seven by sweeping three matches at number one doubles as the Beavers faced three of the top programs in the country. They were 6-2 winners over the seventh-ranked pairing of Elanor Archer and Caitlin Bui of No. 2 Washington University, beat Leila Epstein and Lucinda Gatsiounins of No. 4 Wesleyan in a tiebreaker 7-6, and capped the week by defeating Lia Melvin and Sophia Kim of No. 13 Johns Hopkins for the second time this spring, 6-3.
The ninth-ranked doubles team in Division III, Cristiani and Sikharulidze improved their record to 21-2 on the season, including 6-0 in dual matches. The Babson duo, which started the season with 11 straight victories, captured the ITA New England doubles title back in September and advanced to the ITA Cup quarterfinals in October.
The Beavers (4-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) returns to conference play this week with matches at Smith on Friday at 4 p.m. and at Wheaton on Sunday at 12 p.m.
