No. 5 Women's Tennis vs. No. 37 Stevens or Rhode Island College
NCAA Tournament | Second Round
Saturday, May 9 | 10 a.m.
Middlebury Outdoor Tennis Courts | Middlebury, Vt. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The fifth-ranked Babson women's tennis team was sent to Middlebury for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and will face the winner of No. 37 Stevens and Rhode Island College in a second round match on Saturday morning. 

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
First Round | Friday, May 8
No. 37 Stevens (16-2) vs. Rhode Island College (16-0), 10 a.m.
No. 20 Tufts (12-6) vs. Hartwick (14-4), 2 p.m.

Second Round | Saturday, May 9
No. 5 Babson (16-4) vs. No. 37 Stevens/Rhode Island College, 10 a.m.
No. 12 Middlebury (13-6) vs. No. 20 Tufts/Hartwick, 2 p.m.

Third Round | May 10
Second round winners, 11 a.m.

SERIES HISTORY
•    Going back to the mid-1990s, Babson has never faced Stevens or Rhode Island College.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 5th
Best NCAA Finish: 2023 regional final
•    No. 5 Babson (16-4) has won 12 of its last 13 matches and is coming off a 4-1 win over then-No. 7 MIT to claim its first NEWMAC Tournament crown since 2014 last Sunday. 
•    Senior Grace Starcher and junior Dana Kamal helped secure the doubles point with a 7-5 win at number three and first-years Sandra Sikharulidze and Elizabeth Shu recorded straight-set victories at second and third singles for the Beavers, who avenged a 4-3 loss in the regular season finale to the Engineers. 
•    Senior Matia Cristiani, the top-ranked singles player in Division III, is 30-0 overall and 14-0 this spring at number one singles, 11th-ranked Sikharulidze (21-2) is 13-0 at number two, Shu is 9-2 in all matches this spring, and first-year Jolie Wang is 15-6 overall and 9-3 in dual matches. 
•    Matia Cristiani and Sikharulidze, who are ranked third nationally, are 31-2 in all doubles matches and 16-0 at number one, Shu and junior Alessandra Cristiani (7-4) have won five of their last six matches, and Kamal is now 7-1 at number three doubles with three different partners. 

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 4-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches. 
•    The Beavers are 1-3 all-time in the second round and suffered a 4-2 loss to Johns Hopkins last May after defeating Endicott 5-0 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 on Sunday. 
•    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 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 (110), doubles (115) and combined victories (225) earlier this season, matched former teammate Olivia Soffer's '25 single-season record of 32 doubles wins in 2023-24 at MIT last Sunday, and needs one more singles victory to match Soffer's mark of 31 achieved to the 2022-23 campaign.
•    Matia also matched her own single-season record of 62 combined victories set during the 2023-24 campaign with the doubles win in the conference final. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    Babson owns winning streaks of 38 matches at number one singles, 35 matches at number two singles and 37 matches at number one doubles entering the NCAA Tournament. 
•    The Beavers have won 24 of their last 25 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 12-0 when winning at number five singles.
•    Babson is 34-0 versus opponents outside the ITA Top-40 going back to the start of the 2022-23 campaign. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Saturday's second round match will face will either No. 12 Middlebury, No. 20 Tufts or Hartwick in Sunday's regional final.