STILLWATER, Okla. - Alexa Noel of the University of Miami women's tennis team posted a straight-set victory over the top-ranked player in the nation on Friday afternoon to earn a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship title match.
In her fifth tournament win, No. 10-ranked and No. 8-seeded Noel claimed an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win against No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seeded Mary Stoiana from Texas A&M at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
The championship ticket marks the fourth time in the last five tournaments that a Miami Hurricane was in the NCAA Individual Championship match. Noel also joins three Miami alumni who have reached the singles title match.
Noel opened the match with a quick 3-0 lead until Stoiana notched back-to-back games to cut the deficit to 3-2. The slight comeback didn’t affect Noel, as she claimed consecutive games to go up 5-2. Although Stoiana secured one more game in the set, Noel showed a strong performance, 6-3, to get the semifinal match started.
Set two was tight initially, but Noel never dropped the lead. The redshirt junior was first to strike in the set before Stoiana tied it one game all. As before, Noel went up another game just for the Aggie to even the set at 2-2, earning her last game of the match. Dominantly, the Summit, N.J., native left it all out there to secure the next four games and win the match, 6-3, 6-2.
The win over Stoiana marks Noel's second win of the season over the Aggie, the last one being in February to help Miami defeat now 2024 NCAA Champions Texas A&M. In their career, Noel and Stoiana are now tied 2-2, with this win being the first match to only wrap up in two sets.
Noel will compete for Miami's third-ever NCAA Singles title against No. 70 Anastasiia Lopata of Georgia tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET.
NCAA Singles Championship Results
Round of 64: #10 [8] Alexa Noel (UM) def. #42 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT), 6-2, 7-5
Round of 32: #10 [8] Alexa Noel (UM) def. #60 Grace Piper (USC), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Round of 16: #10 [8] Alexa Noel (UM) def. #31 Anika Yarlagadda (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
Quarterfinals: #10 [8] Alexa Noel (UM) def. #29 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN), 6-2, 6-3
Semifinals: #10 [8] Alexa Noel (UM) def. #1 [1] Mary Stoiana (TAMU), 6-3, 6-2
Courtesy of Miami Athletics
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