New Titans women’s lacrosse head coach Alexa Matta brings an eclectic background to her new gig. Prior to getting into coaching, she worked as a paralegal for a firm for a couple of years. She described that she loved the work of helping others but couldn’t sustain the feeling of having someone else’s life in her hands. The job began to take a toll on her and she quickly saw a disconnect in her career.
“It’s all about how we react,” Matta said.
Eventually, she started coaching lacrosse on the side, which brings her to being “superwoman” in juggling a career with lacrosse and a career in law. She realized she has a niche for lacrosse. She truly loved the art of lacrosse and wanted to help other girls learn to love the art as well.
She took a risk on her mentally being happy as well as providing for her family by stepping into a career she loved – coaching. She coached at a high school in Los Angeles and learned the method of balancing lacrosse as well as life skills. She felt she was finally happy, but some parts of her life didn’t get as much of her attention. She wanted to learn the balance of work and family.
The opportunity to work for Detroit Mercy came along and she saw it as a perfect way to display her art in coaching as being an amazing mother to her daughter. When offered the position as head coach she was thrilled, along with knowing how much work it would take to become comfortable in a new setting in such little time. She has taught the team what it means to be unsure of what makes you happy as well as understanding certain life skills that are required to survive in this world.
Matta was previously the head coach at Siena Heights. In that job, she led the team to 30 wins, including an 18-13 within the conference. She joined the program in July, originally hired as an assistant coach.
That changed when former head coach Madeline Dugan resigned, and Matta was elevated to head coach. Upon being hired, Matta expressed how thrilled she was to move into the role.
“I am so excited and honored to be named the next head women’s lacrosse coach for UDM,” Matta said at the time. “I want to thank Director of Athletics Robert Vowels and the entire athletic department for this opportunity to lead the Titans. I’m eager to build on the amazing progress the team made last season and work alongside this talented group to reach new heights.”
The rest of the Titans athletic community is also excited about the hire.
“Alexa has shown great leadership in her short time here and we believe she will keep the upward swing we had last season,” Director of Athletics Robert C. Vowels, Jr. said after the hire. “She has been a head coach, so the transition should be seamless and we look forward to her keeping the program at a championship-caliber contender.”
