NCAA TENNIS : Toreros’ Noriega Wins, Advances to the Round of 16

Jose Luis Noriega of the University of San Diego is one of only eight seeded players remaining in the NCAA men’s singles tennis championships in Athens, Ga.

Noriega, a junior and ranked eighth in the nation, defeated Nick Barone of Mississippi, 7-5, 6-2, Thursday in the second round. Noriega improved his singles record to 34-5 as he advanced to the round of 16.

The three-time All-American from Lima, Peru, will meet fourth-ranked and sixth-seeded David DiLucia of Notre Dame today. Di-Lucia, a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) winner over Cal’s Matt Lucena, defeated Noriega in November, a three-set victory in the third round of the Volvo Championships.

Noriega, who also made it to the round of 16 his freshman year, won three rounds of this tournament last year before he lost in three sets to eventual champion Steve Bryan of Texas.

In other matches, Albert Chang of Harvard upset second-seeded Al Parker of Georgia 7-6 (7-1), 6-2. Chang, ranked 30th in the nation, needed one hour, 39 minutes to dispose of the Georgia star, who was playing on his home court. Chang celebrated by studying for a three-hour biology exam.

Harvard is in the midst of finals and expects its athletes at the tennis event to adhere as closely as possible to the schedule that the students back at Cambridge, Mass., follow.

Top-seeded Conny Falk of Miami, No. 3 Alex O’Brien of Stanford and No. 8 Byron Black of Southern California all advanced.

Falk reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jack Waite of Wisconsin and O’Brien beat Florida’s Bruce Haddad 6-3, 6-0 by winning the final 10 games. Black beat Craig Wildey of Kansas 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.