No. 5 Women's Tennis vs. No. 3 Washington University (Mo.)
NCAA Tournament | Semifinals
Tuesday, May 19 | 5 p.m.
Champions Tennis Club | Chattanooga, Tenn. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The fifth-ranked Babson women's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history with its victory over Middlebury on May 10 and will now face second-ranked Chicago on Monday. 
•    The Beavers joined MIT (2015, 2018, 2019, 2022) as the only NEWMAC programs to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship with their win over Middlebury, and became the first team in conference history to reach the semifinals with Monday's triumph over No. 2 Chicago.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals | Monday, May 18
No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 4,  No. 7 Bowdoin 0
No. 4 Wesleyan 4, No. 9 Washington & Lee 0
No. 5 Babson 4, No. 2 Chicago 0
No. 3 Washington (Mo.) 4, No. 8 Carnegie Mellon 1

Semifinals | Tuesday, May 19
No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. No. 4 Wesleyan, 5 p.m. 
No. 5 Babson vs. No. 3 Washington University, 5 p.m. 

Final | Thursday, May 21
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 1-1 all-time against WashU in a series that dates back to 2023. 
•    The Beavers defeated the Bears, 5-4, in March 2023 in California before dropping a 4-2 decision back on March 15 in Bluffton, S.C. 

LAST MEETING
•    Ally Lin paired with Eliana Hanna for a 6-1 victory at number two doubles and was a 6-0, 6-1 winner at number four singles as WashU defeated Babson, 4-2, back on March 15 in Bluffton, S.C. 
•    Caitlin Bui was a straight-set winner at number three singles and Nina Moravek registered a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 triumph at number six singles for the Bears, who earned the doubles point by dropping just three combined games at Nos. 2 and 3. 
•    Senior Matia Cristiani and first-year Sandra Sikharulidze recorded straight-set victories at number one and two singles, respectively, after combining for a 6-2 win at number one doubles for the Beavers. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 5th
Best NCAA Finish: 2026 semifinals
•    No. 5 Babson (18-4) has won five straight and 15 of its last 16 matches after defeating No. 2 Chicago, 4-0, in Monday's NCAA quarterfinals.
•    Matia Cristiani and sophomore Alessandra Cristiani both won matches in both singles and doubles, and first-year Tina Liu was a straight-set winner at number five singles for the Beavers, who claimed the opening set in five of six singles matches against the Maroons. 
•    Matia Cristiani, the top-ranked singles player in Division III, is 32-0 overall and 16-0 this spring at number one singles, 10th-ranked Sikharulidze (23-2) is 15-0 at number two, first-year Elizabeth Shu is 9-2 in all matches this spring, and fellow rookie Jolie Wang is 16-6 overall and 10-3 in dual matches. 
•    Matia Cristiani and Sikharulidze, who are ranked third nationally, are 33-2 in all doubles matches and 18-0 at number one, Shu and Alessandra Cristiani (8-4) have won six of their last seven matches, and junior Dana Kamal is now 7-2 at number three doubles with three different partners. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 23rd
Best NCAA Finish: 2025 National Champions
•    No. 3 WashU (20-3) has won three straight and seven of its last eight matches overall after defeating No. 8 Carnegie Mellon, 4-1, in Monday's quarterfinals. 
•    Lin was a part of wins in both singles and doubles and Amber Edmonds at number five and Moravek at number six posted straight set victories in singles for the Bears, who have now won eight consecutive NCAA Tournament matches going back to last season.
•    Hanna, who is ranked fifth in Division III, is 20-9 overall and 12-6 at number one singles, 19th-ranked Elanor Archer (19-5) is 11-4 at number two, 21st-ranked Bui (17-7) is 12-5 at number three and Lin is 22-3 in all matches and 14-2 at number four with 11 consecutive victories. 
•    Archer and Bui, who are ranked first in Division III, are 25-6 overall and 16-4 at number one doubles, Hanna and Lin are ranked 10th nationally and have gone 26-5 overall and 17-2 at number two this spring, and the duo of Lily Brecknock and Sam Slowik are 24-2 overall and 19-2 at number three. 

BEAVERS IN THE POSTSEASON
•    All five of Babson's NCAA Tournament appearances as a team have come over the last 11 seasons.
•    The Green and White, which also received a first round bye in 2023, is 7-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches. 
•    The Beavers are now 1-1 all-time in two regional final appearances with this year's win over Middlebury and a 5-2 loss to Amherst in 2023. 
•    Prior to Monday's win over Chicago, Babson had never faced an opponent from the UAA in the NCAA Tournament. 

HALL, CRISTIANI AND SIKHARULIDZE RECEIVE ITA NORTHEAST REGIONAL RECOGNITION
•    Babson second-year head coach Emma Hall was selected as the ITA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year, Matia Cristiani was tabbed as the region's senior player of the year and Sikarhulidze was chosen as rookie of the year last Wednesday. 
•    Hall is the Beavers' first ITA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year recipient since 2015, Cristiani gave the program is second consecutive senior player of the year award after Olivia Soffer '25 was selected last May, and Sikharulidze became Babson's first regional rookie of the year since Cristiani back in 2023. 

KAMAL EARNS NEWMAC TOURNAMENT MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER HONORS
•    After going 2-0 at number three doubles and registering the clinching point in singles against MIT, Kamal was tabbed as the tournament most outstanding player following the championship match back on May 3.  
•    She paired with Wang for a 6-4 win at number three doubles in last Saturday's semifinal triumph over Wellesley and added to her doubles win with senior Grace Starcher by defeating Rayna Li of MIT 6-4, 6-4 at number six singles to help Babson claim its first NEWMAC Tournament win over the Engineers since 2014. 

CRISTIANI NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR AS FOUR EARN ALL-CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
•    Matia Cristiani was selected as the NEWMAC Player of the Year and joined Sikharulidze, sister Alessandra Cristiani and Shu in receiving both all-conference singles and doubles honors earlier this week. 
•    Matia Cristiani and Sikharulidze were first-team selections in both singles and doubles, Shu was a first-team choice in singles and joined Alessandra Cristiani in garnering second-team laurels in doubles. Alessandra also earned second-team accolades in singles. 

BEAVERS' TOP DUO SELECTED FOR NCAA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
•    Matia Cristiani and Sikharulidze were both selected to compete in the NCAA Singles and Championships, which begin on May 22 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
•    Both will take part of in the 32-player singles draw and were one of 16 doubles teams chosen to participate. 

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
•    Matia Cristiani, who already became the program's all-time leader in singles (112), doubles (116) and combined victories (228) earlier this season, is  a perfect 63-0 in dual-match singles competition over her four-year career with all of the victories coming at either number one or number two. 
•    Cristiani surpassed former teammate Olivia Soffer's '25 single-season record of 32 doubles wins in 2023-24 with a win against Stevens on May 9, and broke Soffer's singles mark of 31 wins achieved during the 2022-23 campaign in Monday's victory over Chicago. 
•    Matia also surpassed her own single-season record of 63 combined victories set during the 2023-24 campaign with the doubles win over Stevens and has 66 on the year.
•    Babson's 18 wins are a new single-season program record after breaking the previous mark of 16 set back in 2022-23. 

TOURNAMENT TESTED
•    Of the other seven programs set to compete in Monday's quarterfinals, the Beavers have played four of them this season. 
•    Babson beat Bowdoin (4-3) on March 1 and Washington & Lee (7-0) on April 23, while suffering losses Wash U (4-2) on March 15 and Wesleyan (4-2) on March 17 on spring break in South Carolina.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    Babson owns winning streaks of 40 matches at number one singles, 37 matches at number two singles and 39 matches at number one doubles entering Monday's quarterfinal against Chicago. 
•    The Beavers have won 26 of their last 27 matches when leading after doubles going back to last season. 
•    The Green and White is 14-0 this season when winning at number three doubles and 14-0 when winning at number five singles.
•    Babson is 6-4 this spring against teams currently ranked among hte top 12 in the ITA Division III rankings.