USD Defeats SDSU Without Noriega

The University of San Diego men’s tennis team, playing without three-time All-American Jose Luis Noriega, upset cross-town rival San Diego State, 5-4, at USD Wednesday.

Although Noriega is out with a rotator cuff injury until probably the NCAA individual tournament in mid-May, the Toreros’ top four singles players all won, despite having to move up a notch.

Frederik Axsater defeated Joe McDonough, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 1; Kevin Bradley beat Chris Numbers, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2; Ignacio Martinez beat Michael Sass, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3 and Phil Hoffman downed Kerry Safdie, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0, at No. 4.

Axsater and Mark Huarte decided the match with a victory at No. 2 doubles over McDonough and Eric Tebbs, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

USD, which has won two in a row without Noriega after losing five straight, improved to 12-7. SDSU fell to 14-4.

SOFTBALL

Diana Moreno and Lacie Mounger pitched consecutive three-hitters as UC San Diego swept a nonconference doubleheader from LaVerne, 5-1 and 14-0. Moreno improved to 8-7, Mounger 6-6 and the Tritons 15-14.

BASKETBALL

Senior Kelvin Woods was the big winner at the University of San Diego’s men’s basketball banquet Wednesday, receiving both the Most Valuable Player and Student-Athlete awards, selected by the coaches. Woods, a two-time all-West Coast Conference choice, will graduate with 1,216 career points, sixth in the school’s history, and carries a 3.03 grade-point average in business. Woods has been a three-time selection as WCC scholar-athlete.

Other award winners Wednesday were senior guard Michael Brown (Bugalli Leadership Award) and junior guard Geoff Probst (Zable Athletic Excellence Award). Both awards were chosen by the players.