Aztec Duo Ousted in WAC Tennis

SAN DIEGO —  The top-seeded doubles team of the University of Utah’s Paul Lobban and Christian Schultes eliminated San Diego State’s Julio Noriega and Jim Kellogg, 6-4, 6-3, Friday in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference men’s tennis championships at SDSU.

Noriega and Kellogg defeated Utah’s Amtti Eranne and Brian Monson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, earlier in the day in a quarter-final match to advance to the semis. Lobban and Schultes will play Tim Cass and Gaylen Garcia of the University of New Mexico at 2 p.m. today in the doubles final.

Lobban, the second-seeded singles player in the tournament, will play Steve Otero of New Mexico in the singles finals at 11 a.m. today. Lobban defeated New Mexico’s Steve Bickman, 6-2, 6-2, and Brigham Young University’s Andy Noorda, 6-2, 6-2, on Friday to reach the finals.

Otero, the eighth seed, upset top-seeded Rob Fought of BYU, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, and New Mexico’s Jack Griffin, 6-3, 6-0, to advance.

Also on Friday, the WAC coaches voted the SDSU freshman, Noriega, as WAC tennis’ Rookie of the Year and BYU’s Larry Hall as Coach of the Year. Hall led BYU to the WAC championship, ending a six-year reign by Utah.