Noriega Advances in NCAAs

Jose Luis Noriega of the University of San Diego won his first-round match in the NCAA men’s tennis singles tournament Wednesday despite nearly a two-month layoff.

Noriega, seeded second, defeated Duke’s David Hall 7-5, 6-3. Noriega had not played since late March because of a rotator cuff injury.

“The injury is history,” Noriega said. “I felt good, as good as you can feel after coming off two months without playing competitive tennis.”

Noriega will play USC’s Wayne Black this morning at 11:30. Black defeated Andy Zurcher of Notre Dame, 7-5, 6-2, in the first round.

San Diego State’s Joe McDonough was also a first-round winner. He defeated UCLA’s Bill Barber, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-1, and plays No. 4 Brian MacPhie of USC today.

Other top seeds advancing Wednesday were No. 1 David DiLucia of Notre Dame and No. 3 Alex O’Brien of Stanford.

In the NCAA women’s tournament at Stanford, USD’s Laura Richards and Julie McKeon defeated Shawn McCarthy and Stacy Sheppard of Georgia, 6-2, 7-5, in the quarterfinals but lost in the semifinals to top-seeded Susan Gilchrist and Vickie Paynter of Texas, 6-2, 6-4. Richards and McKeon finished the season 18-6.