Babson College

Now in his eighth year at Babson in 2025-26, Michael Kopelman is in his third season as the Director of Tennis and eighth season as head men's tennis coach. He also served as the head women's coach for the Beavers from 2018-23.

The Babson men are coming off the most successful season in program history. After starting the season ranked 32nd in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III poll, the Beavers climbed to a program high No. 11 in April and ended up No. 11 in the season's final poll. The Green and White set a program record for victories with a 22-3 record, captured the  New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season and tournament championships, and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history. Babson swept the NEWMAC post-season awards as Kopelman and his assistants were named the Coaching Staff of the Year, Brady Anderson '25 claimed the NEWMAC Player of the Year, and Edward Wang '28 was tabbed the conference Rookie of the Year.

The outstanding season for the Beavers came on the heels of a successful campaign in 2023-24 that saw the Beavers climb as high as No. 16 in the ITA Division III poll and finish the season at No. 31. The team advanced to the final of the NEWMAC Championships and had Kerem Ozlale '27 earn NEWMAC Rookie of the Year before finishing the season ranked No. 38 in the ITA Division III singles rankings.

The Beavers enjoyed success in 2022-23 as the men's program reached No. 18 in the ITA Division III national ranking, captured the NEWMAC regular season crown, and advanced to the NEWMAC Tournament title match. The Babson women's program reached a Division III national ranking of #9 under Kopelman before finishing the season ranked #13, captured the conference regular season title and advanced to the final of the NEWMAC Tournament, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a team, and sent two women to the NCAA National Singles and Doubles Championships with Babson represented in the finals of both the singles and doubles national final.

Babson began to enter the national college tennis scene in 2022 as the men's program reached #25 in the ITA Division III national ranking, posted a win over No. 18-ranked Sewanee, the highest-ranked program defeated by a Beaver team, and advanced to the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals. The Babson women's program reached a Division III national ranking of #32, advanced to the final of the NEWMAC Tournament, sent the first woman in program history to the NCAA National Singles Championship and had the first woman in team history to bring home All-American honors.

Kopelman enjoyed a terrific debut at Babson leading both his men's and women's teams to 14 wins and a pair of NEWMAC Tournament final appearances in 2019. His men's squad picked up two victories over top-40 foes and earned the program's first national ranking in 2020.

Kopelman continued his success in 2021 as both his men's and women's squads captured NEWMAC regular season titles and earned spots in the NCAA Tournament. The men claimed the program's first conference tournament championship and reached their first NCAA Tournament regional final, while the women's squad finished atop the league standings for the first time since 2003 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In addition to the on-court success of his teams, all seven of Kopelman's recruiting classes have been nationally ranked and his teams have combined to earn as many as 76 academic accolades, including Brady Anderson '25, who earned First Team Academic All-America accolades in 2025.

Success on the Court
MEN

• Achieved a program-high ranked of #11 in 2025 before finishing the season at #11 in the ITA Division III poll. Captured both the NEWMAC regular season and tournament title for the second time in program history and first since 2021.
• Set a single-season program record for victories with a mark of 22-3 in 2025.
• Reached a program-high ranking of #16 in 2024 before finishing the season at #31 in the ITA Division III poll. Advanced to the NEWMAC final for the third straight season and fourth time in five years.
• Ended the 2023 season ranked #18 in the ITA national poll, the highest ranking in program history. Posted a 14-match winning streak and finished 17-3 overall in 2023 after claiming the NEWMAC regular season title and advancing to the conference tournament final.
• Finished the season ranked #32 in the ITA national poll after reaching as high as No. 25 during the season after posting a win over No. 18 Sewanee in March of 2022, the highest-ranked program defeated by the Beavers in program history.
• Earned first national ranking in program history in 2020, rising as high as No. 37 in the ITA poll, and finished 2021 campaign ranked a program-best 31st following NCAA Tournament first round win over Stevenson.
• Markus Nordby ’21 earned the program’s first All-America honor since 1998 and finished the season ranked 16 in the ITA singles poll. He also defeated then-No. 1 Boris Sorkin of Tufts, 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 10-5, on March 7.
• Kian Yazdi '22 was ranked 48th nationally and 12th in the northeast region in the final 2021 ITA singles poll.
• Nordby and Maxwell Conlin ’23 finished the 2020 season as the 10th-ranked doubles team in the Northeast Region.
• Brady Anderson ’25 and Luis Utrilla ’26 finished the 2023 season ranked 18th nationally in doubles in 2023 and Brooks Green ‘23M was ranked 42nd in singles.
• Victory over No. 32 TCNJ in February 2020 was the highest-ranked win in program history.
• Set a new program record with 14 wins in 2019 and reset it again with 17 wins in 2023.
• Four NEWMAC All-Conference selections in 2019 and two in 2021, including Conference Player of the Year Kian Yazdi '22. Four All-Conference honorees again in 2022, including NEWMAC Rookie of the year Ole Lepsoe '25.
• Five NEWMAC All-Conference selections in 2023 and coaches Kopelman and Dubrovsky were named NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
• Kerem Ozlale '27 earn NEWMAC Rookie of the Year in 2024 before finishing the season ranked No. 38 in the ITA Division III singles rankings.
• Swept the NEWMAC post-season major awards with Brady Anderson '25 earning Player of the Year, Edward Wang "28 capturing Rookie of the Year, and coaches Kopelman, Alan Dubrovsky and Mihir Auty were named NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
• Assistant Coach Alan Dubrovsky earned 2025 ITA Northeast Region and Division III Assistant Coach of the Year under Kopelman.

WOMEN

• Swept the singles and doubles titles at the 2023 ITA New England Championships and advanced to the doubles final at the Division III ITA Cup.
• Reached as high as #9 in the ITA Division III national poll in 2023 and finished the season ranked #13, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships, and was represented in both the NCAA national singles and doubles championships.
• Ranked #32 in the ITA national poll at the conclusion of the 2022 campaign, and received the first All-American in program history after Olivia Soffer '25 advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA National Singles Championship.
• Finished the 2021 season ranked 26th in the ITA national poll after defeating SUNY New Paltz in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Six players earned NEWMAC All-Conference honors in both 2019 and 2021, three received All-Conference honors in 2022, including the NEWMAC Player and Rookie of the Year Olivia Soffer '25, and four were named All-Conference in 2023, including Soffer as Player of the Year and Matia Cristiani ’26 as Rookie of the Year.
• Alexa Tutecky ’21 defeated then-fifth-ranked Caroline Casper of Pomona-Pitzer, 6-3, 6-3, in March 2019 to record the highest-ranked win in program history.
• Carolina Merz ’21 reached the third round of the singles draw at the 2019 ITA New England Championships, which included a 6-0, 7-5 victory over one of the top seeds, Chloe Henderson of Williams, in the first round.
• Olivia Soffer '25 won her first two matches at the 2022 NCAA National Singles Championship to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to the defending national champion.
• Soffer advanced to the NCAA national single final in 2023 and was joined by Cristiani in the national doubles final. Both Soffer and Cristiani was named All-America by the ITA, Soffer becoming the first woman in program history to earn her second All-America nod.

• Brady Anderson '25 earned the program's first College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic All-America recognition in 2025.
• Have earned 44 ITA All-Academic Scholar-Athlete awards, 24 NEWMAC Academic All-Conference awards and six ITA All-Academic team honors since 2019.

• Earned 23 ITA All-Academic Scholar-Athlete awards, 14 NEWMAC Academic All-Conference awards and five ITA All-Academic team honors under Kopelman from 2019-23.

• 2025 recruiting class ranked 8th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2024 recruiting class ranked 14th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2023 recruiting class ranked 4th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2022 recruiting class ranked 15th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2021 recruiting class ranked a program-best ninth in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2020 recruiting class was ranked 17th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2019 recruiting class earned its first national ranking coming in 23rd in Division III according to the Tennis Recruiting Network.

• 2023 recruiting class was ranked 9th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2022 recruiting class was ranked 12th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2021 recruiting class was ranked 23rd in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2020 recruiting class was ranked 10th in Division III by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
• 2019 recruiting class was ranked a program-best 5th in Division III and 20th among mid-major programs by the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Kopelman came to Babson following a successful three-year stint as an assistant men's and women's tennis coach at nearby Brandeis University. The 2018 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Kopelman helped the men's squad win 14 matches and saw the program rise to as high as 14th in the national poll during the 2017-18 campaign. The Judges' top doubles pairing also was selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament as part of the program's best showing in more than three decades.

The success of the men's program came on the heels of a historic 2016-17 campaign for the Brandeis women. Under Kopelman's tutelage, the program set a school record with 15 wins and got as high as No. 18 in the ITA national poll. Additionally, four of Kopelman's six recruiting classes at Brandeis ranked in the top 25 by The Tennis Recruiting Network, which includes Division III's seventh-ranked men's class in 2018.

Prior to Brandeis, Kopelman spent two seasons as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Division II Bentley University, where a combined 11 players from the men's and women's programs earned Northeast-10 Conference honors.

A 2013 graduate of Boston University, Kopelman was a two-time captain and a two-time All-America East Conference doubles selection for the Terriers. He helped the program record its first winning season since 2007 as a senior in 2013, accumulating 50 wins in just two-and-a-half seasons.

Babson Under Coach Kopelman (Men)

Babson Under Coach Kopelman (Women)