CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—Babson College women's tennis senior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) capped a perfect season and captured the program’s first NCAA singles national championship in addition to finishing as the runner-up in doubles alongside first-year Sandra Sikharulidze (Kyiv, Ukraine) on Monday at the Champions Tennis Club.
Cristiani defeated junior Lia Melvin (Joppa, Md.) of Johns Hopkins 6-1, 6-1 in the final to become the Beavers’ first NCAA women’s tennis singles national champion. Playing in her first career final after advancing to the semifinals in 2024, Cristiani concluded the season with a perfect 37-0 record.
Cristiani, who was playing in her fourth consecutive doubles final, and Sikharulidze dropped a three-set decision that included a third-set tiebreaker to senior Lindsay Eisenman (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and sophomore Rebecca Kong (San Diego, Calif.) of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Beavers fell 1-6, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7) snapping a 23-match winning streak that started following a loss to the same duo in the quarterfinals of the ITA Cup back in October.
As she has for much of the season, Cristiani was dominant in singles on Monday, posting her 34th straight-set win of the season. She dropped just one point over her first two service games while breaking Melvin three times to build a 5-0 lead in the first, and then responded to a break by Melvin by converting her third set point to go up 1-0 in the match.
Leading 2-0 in the second, Cristiani rallied from a 40-15 hole by winning three straight points to extend her advantage to 3-0. Both players held serve before Cristiani broke Melvin for the fifth time in the match and then closed out a historic season on her serve.
Melvin, who is the first player in Johns Hopkins history to reach the NCAA Singles Championship, ends her season at 18-11.
Leading 2-1, second-seeded Eisenman and Kong won four straight games to claim the first set of the doubles final before top-seeded Cristiani and Sikharulidze stormed back by jumping out to a 3-0 lead and going up 5-1 in the second to push the match to a decisive third set.
The final set started with four consecutive service breaks before Cristiani and Sikharulidze took the lead three times, the last coming at 5-4, before Eisenman and Kong answered by winning back-to-back games, including their third break of the set to go back in front 6-5. The Beavers responded with a break of their own as Cristiani put away a backhand at the net to force a tiebreaker.
Eisenman and Kong jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker before Cristiani and Sikharulidze rallied to cut their deficit to 4-3 before dropping the final three points. Babson’s top doubles pairing ends the season with a record of 37-3, while Eisenman and Kong finished with a record of 23-2 to become Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ first NCAA doubles champions since 2019.
About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 13 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Saint Anselm College (beginning reclassification process with NCAA in 2027-28), Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 21 sports.