Repeat Champs: Babson’s Doubles Team Nets Second Tennis National Title

The champion tennis players pose for a photo with their trophies alongside their coaches
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Babson College’s first women’s national champions did it again. 

Olivia Soffer ’25 and Matia Cristiani ’26 captured their second consecutive NCAA Division III doubles national championship in women’s tennis Tuesday, defeating the top-seeded Middlebury College duo of Nina Farhat and Sahana Raman, 6-2, 6-2, in the title match in Claremont, California. 

Soffer and Cristiani, who are 81-8 overall over the past three seasons, captured the eighth overall national championship in Babson Athletics history. Last year, they teamed up to win the first women’s national title in school history. In addition, five teams—men’s soccer (1975, 1979, 1980), men’s ice hockey (1984), and men’s basketball (2017)—have won national titles, and David Weisman ’98 won the men’s tennis singles championship in 1998. 

Soffer and Cristiani ended the season with an overall record of 26-2 to become the first back-to-back Division III doubles champions since Julie Raventos and Linda Shin of Williams College in 2015 and 2016. They also are the first doubles team to reach three consecutive Division III finals since 2014. 

Soffer ends her career as Babson’s all-time leader in singles (99), doubles (97), and combined victories (196), while Cristiani ranks second in singles (79), doubles (83), and combined wins (162). 

For more on the historic national championship, read more at Babson Athletics. 

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