When University of Miami redshirt junior Alexa Noel decided to transfer from Iowa to Miami following her sophomore year, it was no easy decision.
During her two-year stint as a Hawkeye, Noel shined en route to earning First Team All-Big Ten honors alongside being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year. Despite the early accolades and success, Noel wanted more and believed Miami head tennis coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews could help her achieve just that.
“I decided to transfer because I knew that Miami was where I wanted to be,” Noel told CaneSport. “I knew Paige (Yaroshuk-Tews) was someone who could help me win a national title, and that’s all I ever wanted out of college tennis. To have completed that and knowing that decision was right is awesome and special.”
Noel is no stranger to winning championships. Throughout her junior tennis career, she has raised many trophies along the way, but after taking home the NCAA Singles Championship Saturday afternoon, it stands tall above the rest.
“This is the most special one,” Noel said. “This is probably the most prestigious event that I have won, and it means a lot to me. (After the match) It was just a combination of shock, relief, and excitement. I still really don’t have the words for it, but I was just really happy.”
In the national championship matchup, Noel defeated Georgia’s Anastasiia Lopata 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 Saturday at Oklahoma State’s Greenwood Tennis Center. After falling behind 3-1 in the second set, the two-time ITA singles All-American rallied to win 12 of the final 17 games.
Despite being down on the scoreboard, Noel knew she couldn’t get down on herself with a national championship within arms reach.
“I was just thinking that this could go one of two ways and I picked the harder way, but the better way,” she said. “I started to play tennis maybe a little more uncomfortable than I typically do. I started to step in a little bit more, took the ball a little bit earlier, changed the pace of the rally and the rhythm and I just stayed mentally tough and present. I just believed in myself that if this was going to go three sets, I could outlast anybody in the country.”
Just as she did during the tail end of this season, Noel found her groove, and after a three-plus hour battle under the scoring Oklahoma sun, she had become the third Hurricane to win a single’s national title and the first since 2019.
“This season was tough,” Noel said. “It was an accumulation of factors that led to this. For me, I don’t think I had a defining pinpoint moment where I was like, ‘Oh wow, I can do this’ but it was more like during the back half of the dual season when I felt more confident.”
Following the matchup, Yaroshuk-Tews had nothing but high praise for Noel, who put her utmost faith in the longtime Hurricanes head coach and saw it all pay off in the end.
“Alexa is undoubtedly one of the toughest competitors in the country,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “She took it to another level today, to be able to flip that match physically, tactically, and emotionally on that stage says a lot about who she is and what she represents.”
Over the last 27 years, Yaroshuk-Tews has been with Miami’s women’s tennis program and has spent the last 23 years as the head coach. During her time, she has coached all three of the Hurricanes singles national champions: Audra Cohen (2007), Estela Perez-Somarriba (2019), and now Noel.
“Each one of them had a trust in me that you can’t put into words, and vice versa,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Audra, Estela and Alexa are three of the fiercest competitors around. They don’t want to lose a discussion, let alone a tennis match. All three came into Miami with a desire to be the best and worked to build on that each day.
“We all have had very hard moments together and very hard discussions. It definitely isn’t always rainbows. When you win a national title, it all makes sense. I’m grateful they never gave up on their process.”
Now a national champion, the work doesn’t end here for Noel, who arrived back in Miami Sunday afternoon. While there will be some celebration, it won’t be long until she is back on the court, preparing for another run at a second national championship.
“I’ll play a lot of pro tournaments, rest a bit, and train,” Noel said. “Kind of stick to what I know, I guess. Nothing will really change much. We’ll have to see where the trajectory of this will take me because it’s still super fresh. We just landed back in Miami, and tonight I’ll get dinner with some friends. Tomorrow hit the Keys and I think by Wednesday I’ll be back on the court.”
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