Noel, Pfennig Advance to NCAA Singles Round of 32

STILLWATER, Okla. – Alexa Noel and Isabella Pfennig of the University of Miami women’s tennis team opened the NCAA Singles Championship with a pair of first round victories Monday evening at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

Noel, ranked No. 10 and seeded eighth in the singles bracket, started the match against No. 42 Tanya Sasnouskaya with a quick 2-0 lead. Sasnouskaya battled to win two games, but Noel continued to dominate the first set to take it, 6-2.

In the second set, Sasnouskaya came out strong to go up 4-1 on Noel, trying to force a third set. Noel then went on to cut the deficit, tying it at four games all. Sasnouskaya was next to take a game, going up 5-4 before Noel notched three consecutive games to claim the second set, 6-2, 7-5.

Pfennig took the court to play No. 73 Bianca Jolie Fernandez in the opening round. Fernandez got things started by shutting out Pfennig 6-0 in the first set before Pfennig came back and shutout Fernandez 6-0 in the second.

Coming down to set three, Pfennig battled to go up 4-1 for a commanding lead until the Bruin took her last game of the match. Pfennig then went on to claim the set and the match, 0-6, 6-0, 6-2.

The two wins improved Miami to 101-63 all-time in the NCAA Singles Championship. A Hurricane has now won at least one match in the event in 11 of the last 12 tournaments, dating back to 2012.

Noel will now face No. 60 Grace Piper of USC, while Pfennig takes on No. 3 [3] Ange Oby Kajuru tomorrow in the NCAA Round of 32. The doubles bracket will also kickoff tomorrow, as No. 27 Isabella Pfennig and Xinyi Nong face No. 14 Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova.