USD’s Noriega Advances at NCAA Meet

ATHENS, Ga. —  Jose Luis Noriega, University of San Diego senior, advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA individual tennis championships at the University of Georgia here Thursday.

Noriega, ranked second nationally and seeded second in the tournament, won his second-round match over USC’s Wayne Black, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. But Noriega, showing signs that a rotator-cuff injury still bothers him, struggled in the last set, having to come back after trailing 4-3.

Noriega will play LSU’s Mario Pacheco today.

This is the fourth consecutive year Noriega--19-0 in singles competition this season--has reached this round. In the last two years, Noriega has fallen to the eventual champion in the quarterfinals. He lost to Texas’ Steve Bryan in 1990 and Stanford’s Jared Palmer last year.

San Diego State’s Joe McDonough, who was unseeded, fell to fourth-seeded Brian MacPhie of USC, 6-2, 6-2.

USC and Pepperdine were among four schools with two players advancing to the third round. USC’s David Ekerot topped Bobby Mariencheck of Georgia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. USC’s Jon Leach lost 6-0, 6-0, to Mike Sell of Georgia.

Charles Auffray and Howard Joffe were the winning Waves.

Iwlani McCalla and Mamie Ceniza of UCLA completed their collegiate careers as champions, winning the NCAA doubles title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Susan Gilchrist and Vickie Paynter of Texas on Thursday at the NCAA women’s tournament at Stanford.

“We played well as a team,” McCalla said. “We were intense and we communicated with each other. I didn’t return serves well, but I think my serving made up for it. Mamie was all over the net.”

McCalla and Ceniza, both seniors, are the third Bruin duo to win the doubles title.

In the singles final, Lisa Raymond of Florida became the second freshman to win the title in its 11-year history, defeating top-seeded Shannan McCarthy of Georgia, 6-3, 6-3.

“I had a hard time getting into the match,” said McCarthy, who lost the first eight points. “I guess I probably looked more nervous than I really was.”