WELLESLEY, Mass. – No. 24 Wellesley College tennis staged a dramatic comeback after trailing 3-0 to defeat  NEWMAC rival No. 20 Babson College in an eight hour saga at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Sunday. The Blue (11-1 Overall, 4-0 NEWMAC) picked up its first win over the Beavers (5-2 Overall, 1-1 NEWMAC) since 2022. 

Babson utilized wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles to start the match off with the 1-0 lead after doubles. First years Sarai Dorismond (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Mia Sorrentino (Miami, Fla.) gave the visitors a good start at No. 3 doubles by defeating sophomores Lily Cade (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.), 6-1.

No. 1 doubles was competitive, tied at 5-5, before a late break gave Babson senior Olivia Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior Kamila Stasiowska (Burlington, Conn.) a 7-5 push past Blue first years Kotistha Modak (Chennai, India) and Sofia Corte-Real (Stamford, Conn.). 

The Blue managed to pick up a tightly contested win at No. 2 doubles despite not getting the point. Wellesley junior Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) and first year Rianna Mariotti (Forest Hills, N.Y.) fought tooth and nail with sophomore Chaniel Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and first year Alessandra Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador). The Blue duo came out on top in the tiebreaker, grabbing a 7-6(3) win.

No. 8 ranked O. Soffer staved off Modak in three sets at the top singles spot to bring Babson's margin to 2-0. O. Soffer took the first set 6-3, before Modak rebounded with a 6-4 second. The pair got to 4-4 in the third before Babson was able to take the final two games for a 6-4 winning performance.

Cristiani erased an early deficit to defeat Corte-Real in three sets at No. 3. Corte-Real scored a 7-6(2) first before Cristiani won 6-4, 6-3 in the second and third to get the Beavers within a point of a victory.

Xu put the Blue on the board by going the distance with C. Soffer at No. 2. C. Soffer gathered a 6-3 first set, followed by 6-3, 7-5 performances from Xu.

The Blue furthered the comeback effort with a big showing from first year Sophie Buttorff (Tacoma, Wash.) at No. 4. The first year shined, taking down No. 39 ranked Dorismond with a 6-3, 7-6(5) scoreline.

First year Nandini Patel (Phoenix, Ariz.) was able to level the score with a big comeback effort with Stasiowska at No. 5. After trailing 6-4, 4-1, Patel kicked into high gear, winning the final 11 games of the match, including a 6-0 third set.

It all came down to Mariotti and Babson junior Grace Starcher (Morristown, N.J.) at No. 6 singles. Starcher completed a 7-5 opener before Mariotti countered with a 6-3 second. The third set shootout for the entire match went into a tiebreaker. Mariotti led 6-4 before Starcher evened the score at 6-6 by saving a pair of match points. Undeterred, Mariotti clutched up winning the final two points to give Wellesley the victory.

Both teams host NEWMAC matchups next. The Blue take on Salve Regina University at 12:00 PM on Saturday, April 5. The Beavers welcome Emerson College at 2:00 PM on Friday, April 4.