Sports digest

ysu

Samsa, Krupko picked

CLEVELAND — YSU senior football players Brad Samsa and Tom Krupko were selected to the 11th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team.

There were 43 individuals selected to the honor list.

Samsa, who this week earned All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and third-team accolades from The Associated Press, was an honorable-mention all-conference academic selection.

He is a three-time all-conference selection earning first-team honors as a junior and a senior.

At YSU he owns a 3.25 GPA as an Industrial and Systems Engineering major.

He started all 12 games, the first nine at center and the final three at right guard.

area

Mooney’s Cali honored

YOUNGSTOWN — Cardinal Mooney High School assistant boy’s soccer coach Lou Cali Jr. received a regional award and is up for a national honor.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America picked Cali as the East Region NSCAA/Addidas Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.

Cali is now one of four coaches up for the organization’s national assistant coach of the year prize.

nation

Penguins deal Filewich

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues acquired Jonathan Filewich from Pittsburgh for a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2010.

The 24-year-old forward has two goals and two assists in 19 games this season with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Last season, the winger played five games with the Penguins and had 10 goals and 21 assists in 71 AHL games.

Filewich was drafted by Pittsburgh in the third round, 70th overall, in 2003. He will report to the Blues’ AHL team in Peoria, Ill.

York gets the call

COLUMBUS — The Columbus Blue Jackets called up center Mike York from their American Hockey League affiliate on Friday, and assigned defenseman Clay Wilson to the Syracuse Crunch.

York adds depth at forward, where the Blue Jackets are without the injured Jason Chimera and Derick Brassard.

The 29-year-old York has seven goals and 16 assists in 28 games this season with the Crunch. He leads the club in assists and points, while ranking second in plus/minus rating (+8) and is tied for third in goals. A veteran of 578 NHL games spanning eight seasons, the Waterford, Mich., native has 127 goals and 195 assists.

He had an assist in five games with the Blue Jackets after being recalled by the club on Dec. 5.

NASCAR settlement

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The former official who filed a $225 million racial discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit against NASCAR is very pleased with her settlement and looking forward to moving on, her attorney said Friday.

Mauricia Grant reached a confidential settlement with NASCAR following 12 hours of mediation earlier this month in New York. The session was suggested by U.S. District Court Judge Deborah A. Batts after the first court appearance in what was expected to be a yearslong battle between the two sides.

“She’d been out of work a long time. We thought it was in the best interest of our client not to drag this out two to three years,” said Benedict P. Morelli of New York-based Morelli Ratner PC.

Volleyball final

OMAHA, Neb. — Defending champion Penn State and Stanford set up a rematch in the NCAA women’s volleyball title match with five-set victories Thursday night.

Nicole Fawcett had 24 kills, Megan Hodge added 23 and top-seeded and unbeaten Penn State beat No. 4 Nebraska 25-17, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 15-11.

Second-seeded Stanford advanced with a 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 win over No. 3 Texas. The Cardinal became the first team in the history of the volleyball final four to win after losing the first two sets.

world

Holyfield faces Valuev

ZURICH, Switzerland — Evander Holyfield insists he has at least one more great fight left in him. If he summons it tonight, he’ll become the oldest man to regain a world heavyweight title.

Standing between the 46-year-old American and a record fifth championship is the tallest and heaviest boxer to hold a major belt, Russia’s Nikolai Valuev.

With Holyfield’s skills clearly diminished, some observers fear he is risking his health by getting in the ring.

Vindicator staff/wire reports