YSU

YSU
Volleyball teamfalls to Butler
YOUNGSTOWN -- Although Youngstown State senior Colleen Royer posted 23 kills and 21 digs with a .328 hitting percentage, five players tallied at least 13 kills to lead Butler past YSU 18-30, 27-30, 33-31, 28-30 on Friday at Beeghly Center.
Butler's Kali Carter tallied 22 kills and a match-high 26 digs, while Megan Knightly recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 21 digs.
Krystal Hendrix also collected a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs, while setter Amanda Matthews dished out 66 assists with 13 digs. Butler's Areal Bienemy and Candice Washington were also in double figures with 14 and 13 kills, respectively.
For the Penguins (9-16, 1-11), senior Annie Buschur nailed 12 kills, while junior Melanie Pounders added 10 kills with eight blocks.
Trailing two games to none and down by nine points on three different occasions in the third stanza, including 21-12, the Penguins scored 15 of the next 21 points to knot the game at 27-27. After staving off two match points with two kills by Royer, the Penguins finished off the Bulldogs on two kills by freshman Cari Leslie, who collected nine kills and 13 digs.
In game four, the Penguins and Bulldogs battled through 13 ties and five lead changes before Butler finally pulled out the victory. YSU led the Bulldogs, 25-21, late in the frame, but Butler (17-5, 7-4) pounded eight kills to score nine of the last 12 points of the game.
YSU plays host to Wright State today at 2 p.m.
LOCAL
Ursuline HOF banquetset for Dec. 3
BOARDMAN -- Ursuline High School will hold its 17th Nick Johnson Scholarship Dinner on Dec. 3 at Mr. Anthony's Banquet Center.
The master of ceremonies will be Paul Maguire, an ESPN sports broadcaster. Tickets are $75 per person.
The 2003 inductees are baseball, Ken Krainock (1997) and James Sotlar (1985); basketball, P.J. McCarthy (1991) and John Valley (1952); football, Art Carter (1992), Kevin Ellerbe (1990) and Phil Fontanarosa (1972); soccer, Michael Rogich (1993); and track, Bryan Cook (1988).
REGION
Gill honored
ALLIANCE -- Mount Union College soccer senior forward Scot Gill has earned academic first-team All-District IV status as selected by college sports information directors.
A second-team academic All-American last season, Gill is a business administration major with a 3.95 grade-point average.
Gill led the Purple Raiders during the 2003 season with 10 goals and was second overall with 23 points. He helped Mount Union to a 13-5-2, 6-3 OAC record.
Meares files for free agency
PITTSBURGH -- After two seasons on the disabled list with a hand injury, Pat Meares ended his contentious career with the Pittsburgh Pirates by filing for free agency.
The move by Meares, who joined the Pirates as a free agent from the Minnesota Twins in 1999, was expected after the team ended a lengthy contract fight and said the infielder would not attend spring training or be in the dugout in 2003.The 35-year-old Meares was injured during the Pirates' final exhibition game of 1999 when he swung a bat. He missed all but 21 games that season. Despite the injury, the Pirates gave Meares a $15 million, four-year contract extension.
The injury was initially diagnosed as a sprain and the Pirates did not realize until later Meares had a broken bone, torn ligaments and shredded tendons in his hand.
Penn St. receiver waives hearing
BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Penn State wide receiver Tony Johnson waived his right to a preliminary hearing on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Johnson was arrested Oct. 17 when a university police officer reported seeing Johnson's car cross the middle line. A blood test indicated that Johnson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.136 percent. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is 0.08 percent.
Paperwork filed in Centre County Court this week indicates Johnson plans to plead innocent to the DUI charge. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 1.
Despite being suspended for the last two games, Johnson leads Penn State in both catches (25) and receiving yards (375). Coach Joe Paterno said Johnson would probably play today at Northwestern.
NATION
SEC shifts focusto BCS standings
ATLANTA -- The Southeastern Conference won't be embarrassing itself with a vote. If there's a three-way tie in the East, it will be broken the old-fashioned way -- on the football field.
Well, sort of.
The SEC hastily adopted a new tiebreaking formula Friday that would use, if needed, the Bowl Championship Series standings to determine who plays in the league's Dec. 6 title game.
During a conference call, SEC athletic directors unanimously adopted the new rule so they wouldn't be put in the position of voting on which team SEC East team -- Florida, Georgia or Tennessee -- goes to Atlanta.
In the event of a three-way tie, the highest team in the BCS standings would represent the East, with one caveat. If the top two teams are within five places of each other in the BCS, the head-to-head winner would go to the title game.
Vindicator staff/wire reports