TEMPE, Ariz.—Senior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) continued to add to her postseason awards haul on Wednesday becoming the first player in Babson College history to be selected as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Player of the Year. 

Cristiani, who took over as the top-ranked player in Division III back in November following her victory at the ITA Cup, became the first player in school history to end the year at No. 1 after claiming the Beavers' first NCAA singles title last month. She concluded the season with a perfect 37-0 record that included 34 straight-set victories, including a 6-1, 6-1 win over Lia Melvin of Johns Hopkins in the NCAA singles final on Memorial Day. 

The most decorated player in Babson women's tennis history, Cristiani is a three-time NCAA champion and eight-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America selection. She was selected as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Player of the Year and earned all-league first-team honors in both singles and doubles for the fourth year in a row in 2026 while setting new single-season program records with 37 singles, 38 doubles and 75 combined victories. 

Additionally, Cristini was tabbed as the women's tennis finalist for the prestigious Honda Award presented by the Collegiate Women's Sports Awards (CWSA), and received ITA Division III and Northeast Regional Senior Player of the Year accolades this spring. 

In addition to her NCAA, ITA Cup and ITA New England Championships singles titles, Cristiani paired with first-year Sandra Sikharulidze (Kyiv, Ukraine) to reach the NCAA doubles final for the fourth consecutive season. The duo also won the ITA New England doubles crown and helped lead Babson to its first NEWMAC championship since 2014 and the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the first time in program history. 

Cristiani, who paired with Olivia Soffer '25 to capture back-to-back NCAA doubles championships in 2024 and 2025, has rewritten the record book over the last four seasons at Babson. She concluded her remarkable career with a 117-4 record in singles, a 121-11 mark in doubles and a combined record of 238-15, passing Soffer as the program's all-time leader in all three categories. Additionally, Cristiani was a perfect 63-0 in dual-match singles competition with every victory coming at either number one or number two, while concluding her career with 33 straight wins at number one doubles dating back to March 2025. 

The 2023 ITA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year and 2024 ITA Division III and Northeast Region Player to Watch, Cristiani qualified for the NCAA singles and doubles championships in each of her four seasons at Babson. She advanced to the NCAA doubles final in each of her four seasons, reached the singles semifinals in 2024 and earned All-America honors in both singles and doubles in four straight seasons. Cristiani also was ranked second to end the 2023-24 campaign and eighth at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. 

Along with her individual success, Cristiani helped Babson make three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program's first regional final appearance in 2023 and a school-record 19 wins while advancing to the national semifinals this spring.