#2 Women's Tennis Set for Top-5 Matchup with #5 Babson in Quarterfinals

CHICAGO -- The 2nd-ranked University of Chicago women's tennis team will continue its NCAA Tournament run on Monday as the Maroons travel to the Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the National Championships. UChicago will take on #5 Babson in a top-5 showdown at 2 PM ET on Monday, May 18.

#2 UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO NOTES:

• UChicago wrapped up the regular season with a 18-4 record overall after taking down #66 Luther 4-0 and #19 Gustavus Adolphus 4-0 to win the Saint Peter Regional.

• The Maroons won their fifth consecutive UAA Tournament title this season with a 4-1 win over #2 WashU, taking down the Bears for the second time this season.

• UChicago enters the National Championships ranked #2 in the ITA rankings, just behind Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

• The Maroons have been ranked in the top-5 of the ITA rankings for 46 consecutive polls, trailing only Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for the longest active streak in NCAA Division III.

• UChicago earned a second-place finish in the ITA Indoor National Championships with wins over #6 Wesleyan (CT) and #7 Middlebury before falling to #5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the championship.

Sarena Biria leads the Maroons with a 25-9 singles record on the season. She is ranked as the #2 singles player in NCAA Division III and the #1 singles player in the Central Region, according to the ITA.

• Biria was also named the UAA Player of the Year after finishing her season with a perfect 8-0 against players from UAA schools.

• This fall, Biria became the eighth player in UChicago women's tennis history to win the ITA Central Regional singles title after a 6-0 record on the weekend. She locked up her singles All-American honor and earned an appearance in the ITA Cup.

• Biria,

Clara Zou, and

Anika Paul are all ranked in the ITA Central Region rankings, with Biria sitting at #1, Zou coming in at #3, and Paul ranking #5. Zou is 15-8 overall on the season, ranking third on the team in singles wins, and Paul has added a 15-10 record on the year.

• Biria and Zou both earned their spots in the singles draw of the 2026 Individual National Championships, beginning on May 22.

Isabelle Chong has been the other top singles player for UChicago with a 20-5 record. She holds a near-perfect 16-1 record in singles dual matches after suffering her only loss against #2 WashU.

• The doubles duo of

Oliwia Mikos and

Lauren Khou earned the #3 ranking in the NCAA Region VI rankings release, and the team of

Anika Paul and

** **Charlotte Klein earned the #6 spot in the regional rankings. Mikos and Khou are also ranked #21 in the latest NCAA Division III rankings.

Tina Kintiroglou leads the team this season with 17 doubles wins on the season.

• With a win, the Maroons will advance to the National Semifinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons, where they would take on the winner of #3 WashU and #8 Carnegie Mellon in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

#5 BABSON COLLEGE NOTES:

• #5 Babson enters the NCAA Tournament with an 18-4 record overall on the season.

• The Beavers took down #39 Stevens (4-0) and #12 Middlebury (4-2) last weekend to advance to the National Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

• #5 Babson earned their first NEWMAC title since 2014, snapping the eight-year streak by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with wins over #39 Wellesley (4-0) and #7 MIT (4-1).

• The Beavers are 12-4 against ranked opponents this season with a trio of top-10 wins over #7 Johns Hopkins (4-1), #7 MIT (4-1), and #10 Bowdoin (4-3).

• Babson enters the National Quarterfinals ranked as the #5 team in NCAA Division III and the #2 team in the Northeast Region.

• Matia Cristiani enters the NCAA Tournament as the #1 overall singles player in NCAA Division III. Cristiani is a perfect 31-0 this season, and she has a career record of 111-6 in singles play.

• Alessandra Sikharulidze also comes in as a top 10 player in the country, ranked #10 in the latest ITA rankings. Sikharulidze is 22-4 overall on the year, and she has won 16 consecutive matches, dating back to her loss in the Bowdoin Invitational on October 10, 2025.

• The duo of Cristiani and Sikharulidze is also ranked in doubles, entering the National Quarterfinals as the #4 team in NCAA Division III. The duo is 31-2 in doubles play on the season, and they have won 17 consecutive matches with their last loss coming in the ITA Cup on October 16, 2025.

• Both Cristiani and Sikharulidze will be competing in the Individual National Championships in both singles and doubles, beginning on May 22.

• Tina Liu rounds out the ranked players for the Maroons, coming in at #48 in the ITA singles rankings.

SERIES HISTORY:

• This will be the first-ever meeting between UChicago and Babson.

• The Maroons have won nine consecutive matches against NESCAC opponents, including wins over #6 Wesleyan (CT), #7 Middlebury, and #10 Bowdoin this season.

• The last win for a NESCAC foe against the Maroons came on March 28, 2019, with a 7-2 victory for #8 Williams over #9 UChicago in Claremont, California.

• The #1 singles match in this match will be a battle between the #1 and #2 singles players in the country, featuring #1 Matia Cristiani from Babson and #2

Sarena Biria from UChicago.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

Monday, May 18

11 AM ET - #1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. #7 Bowdoin

11 AM ET - #4 Wesleyan (CT) vs. #9 Washington and Lee

** 2 PM ET - #2 UChicago vs. #5 Babson**

2 PM ET - #3 WashU vs. #8 Carnegie Mellon

Tuesday, May 19

5 PM ET - Winner of 11 AM Matches on Monday

5 PM ET - Winner of 2 PM Matches on Monday

Thursday, May 21

1 PM ET - National Championship Match