No. 5 Women's Tennis Battles No. 12 Middlebury in NCAA Tournament Regional Final on Sunday

No. 5 Women's Tennis at No. 12 Middlebury

NCAA Tournament | Second Round

Sunday, May 10 | 11 a.m.

Middlebury Outdoor Tennis Courts | Middlebury, Vt.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

First Round | Friday, May 8

No. 39 Stevens 4, Rhode Island College 0

No. 20 Tufts 4, Hartwick 0

Second Round | Saturday, May 9

No. 5 Babson (16-4) 4, No. 39 Stevens 0

No. 12 Middlebury 4, No. 20 Tufts 2

Third Round | Sunday, May 10

No. 5 Babson (17-4) at No. 12 Middlebury (14-6), 11 a.m.

SERIES HISTORY

• Babson is 0-3 all-time against Middlebury in a series that dates back to 2008.

• The Beavers suffered a 5-2 loss to the Panthers in the last meeting between the teams on March 19, 2025, in Redlands, Calif.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS

NCAA Tournament Appearance: 5th

Best NCAA Finish: 2023 regional final

• No. 5 Babson (17-4) has won 13 of its last 14 matches and cruised past No. 39 Stevens in its NCAA opener on Saturday morning.

• The pairings of senior

Matia Cristiani and first-year

Sandra Sikarhulidze and sophomore

** **Alessandra Cristiani and first-year

Manuela Moscoso won in doubles, while Sikharulidze,

Alessandra Cristiani and first-year

Jolie Wang recorded singles victories for the Beavers.

• 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 (22-2) is 14-0 at number two, Shu is 9-2 in all matches this spring, and Wang is 16-6 overall and 10-3 in dual matches.

•

Matia Cristiani and Sikharulidze, who are ranked third nationally, are 32-2 in all doubles matches and 17-0 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.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

*NCAA Tournament Appearance: 26th *

Best NCAA Finish: Semifinalists (2005, 2016-19, 2022, 2023)

• No. 12 Middlebury (14-6) advanced to its 16th consecutive NCAA Tournament regional final with a hard-fought 4-2 win over 20th-ranked Tufts on Saturday afternoon.

• Leading 1-0 after doubles, the Panthers got three-set wins from Elsie Van Wieren and Anna Lardner at first and second singles, and a straight-set victory from Diya Pachamuthu at number five to clinch the match.

• Van Wieren, who is ranked seventh nationally, is 23-6 overall and 16-3 at number one singles, Lardner is 16-9 in all matches and 12-6 at number two, and Ren Barton (20-7) and Charlotte McCann (20-5) both have 10 wins this year at fourth and fifth singles.

• Van Wieren and Lardner are 9-3 at number one doubles, Lulu Wu and Ananya Annapantuala (11-2) have won seven consecutive matches at number two, and the duo of Barton and Pachamuthu has gone 10-2 at number three this spring.

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 5-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches.

• The Beavers are now 2-3 all-time in the second round and lost their only previous regional final appearance back in 2023, falling to Amherst 5-3.

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, surpassed former teammate

Olivia Soffer's '25 single-season record of 32 doubles wins in 2023-24 at on Saturday, and needs one more singles victory to match Soffer's mark of 31 achieved to the 2022-23 campaign.

• Matia also surpassed her own single-season record of 63 combined victories set during the 2023-24 campaign with the doubles win over Stevens.

• Babson's 17 wins are a new single-season program record after breaking the previous mark of 16 set back in 2022-23.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• Babson owns winning streaks of 38 matches at number one singles, 36 matches at number two singles and 38 matches at number one doubles entering the Sunday's match.

• The Beavers have won 25 of their last 26 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 13-0 when winning at number five singles.

• Babson is 5-4 this season versus ITA Top-15 opponents this spring.

UP NEXT

• The winner of Sunday's match will punch its ticket to the NCAA quarterfinals in Chattanooga, Tenn., beginning on May 18.