USD’s Noriega Enjoys Tennis Titles to a Degree : Tennis: Education is the main thing the Torero star is after. He is treating the NCAA tournament as just another college experience.

To most college tennis players, winning the NCAA men’s singles championship this week in Athens, Ga., would be the ultimate slice of satisfaction.

And then there is Jose Luis Noriega of the University of San Diego.

Noriega, a junior, already has won a major college tournament, placed well at two previous NCAAs, won back-to-back national championships in his native Peru and played for his country in Davis Cup competition.

It is the latter in that list that makes this year’s NCAA tournament pale in comparison, but there is another reason Noriega is treating the draw, which begins today, as simply another college experience.

The son of a pig farmer, Noriega says his ultimate satisfaction will come next May in the form of a business degree from USD.

“That’s why I came here,” Noriega said, “to get my degree.

“I don’t plan on playing tennis all my life. My goal is to turn pro. That’s why I’m still working hard in college. I want to give that a shot. But if it doesn’t work out, I want something to fall back on.”

Said USD teammate Brett Pollak, “He’s serious about school. He wants to graduate. I mean, he could have turned pro out of high school. What the heck is he sticking around here for? He could be making a lot of money out there as a pro.”

Perhaps, but Noriega isn’t taking any chances, nor is he about to be cheated out of his youth. He realizes he doesn’t possess the serve of a Stefan Edberg, the quickness of a Michael Chang nor the overall athleticism of a Boris Becker. His is not a charge-the-net approach, and he hasn’t been tabbed a can’t-miss pro.

College allows him to improve his tennis, but it also gives him the opportunity to get an education and have some fun.

“He’s not in a rush (to leave school),” Pollak said. “He’s having a good time. If not, he would have left by now.”

Noriega believes he can win the NCAAs, but he isn’t placing any undue pressure on himself.

“You always set your goal to win it,” he said, “but I just want to go there and play my best. As long as I develop my game and play my tennis, I’ll do fine in the tournament.”

Noriega, who received a tough first-round opponent in Matt Hewitt of Auburn, is trying to become the first player to win the NCAA title while competing solely as an individual. Every past winner has come from a program that also participated in the team competition.

Hewitt, an unseeded senior, was ranked 25th in the latest ITCA/Volvo rankings. Noriega was ranked eighth but received a seeding between Nos. 9 and 16 (the tournament lists those in alphabetical order).

Noriega made the round of 16 as a freshman and the quarterfinals last year before losing to eventual champion Steve Bryan of Texas. Noriega said the slow surfaces in Athens should work to his advantage, as they did when he won the 1989 National Clay Court Championships, another college grand slam event.

Having played Davis Cup this winter should also help.

Shortly after winning his second national championship, Noriega scored all three points in Peru’s 3-2 preliminary victory over Chile in early January. From there it was on to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the Davis Cup first round.

Noriega lost his opening singles match in straight sets, but then teamed with Carlo DiLaura for a memorable, 5 1/2-hour, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-7, 15-13 victory over Brazil’s Fernando Roese and Mauro Menezes to score Peru’s only point of the series.

Forty-five minutes later, an obviously fatigued Noriega fell to Luis Mattar, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5, in another singles match.

“It was the best experience I’ve had in tennis so far,” Noriega said. “I’ve never had that much pressure in my life. But I think I did pretty good. I was happy with my results.”

Returning to USD, Noriega finished 32-5 in singles this season and won his second West Coast Conference title last month.

Of the 10 awards handed out by Coach Ed Collins at USD’s postseason banquet, Noriega won nine of them. Most improved went to Fredrik Axsatar, a freshman from Sweden.

Among Noriega’s honors was his third consecutive sportsmanship award, which says enough about his demeanor on the court. Two weeks ago, he won the Region VIII Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship Award and is now eligible for the national award.

Ricardo Herrera of San Diego State will play Patricio Arnold of Georgia in today’s first round of singles. Herrera is unseeded, Arnold is seeded in the top 16.