Sports briefs: Oct. 3 | Lexington Herald Leader

UK Sports

Volleyball team upsets No. 5 Florida in Gainesville

The Kentucky volleyball team got its first win in Gainesville, Fla., in nearly 20 years. The 15th-ranked Cats upset fifth-ranked Florida in five sets — 9-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 — for their first win there since Oct. 1, 1989. Kentucky (14-1, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) got its second straight win against Florida (10-2, 4-1) after earning a five-set victory in Lexington a season ago. UK is the only remaining unbeaten team in the conference.

"I obviously thought this was a really great win tonight," UK Coach Craig Skinner said. "It is really hard to come into Florida and get a win because they hardly ever lose at home. To be able to pull out a win after getting crushed 25-9 in the opening set really is outstanding."

Kentucky was led by junior Sarah Mendoza, who had 20 kills. Sophomore Gretchen Giesler had a career-high 11 kills. Senior Sarah Rumely directed the offense with 46 assists while hitting .206 hitting and adding five kills of her own.

Times set for UK in Cancun Challenge

Game times were announced Friday for the semifinals and finals of the Cancun Challenge, the college basketball tournament in which Kentucky is playing in November in Mexico. The semifinals on Nov. 24 will feature Kentucky vs. Cleveland State at 4:30 p.m., followed by Virginia vs. Stanford at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for Nov. 25 at 9:30 p.m., with the third-place game at 7 p.m. All games will be played at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun.

Women's soccer loses 1-0 to Georgia

Despite a change in its game plan only hours before the match, Kentucky's women's soccer team couldn't get on track offensively, losing 1-0 at home to No. 22 Georgia on Friday night. UK Coach Jon Lipsitz employed a formation change only hours before the game to try and spark his team, as well as throw off Georgia.

"We changed our shape, changed our style, changed everything in our one-hour workout this morning," Lipsitz said. "We just have to give credit to Georgia for finding a way to score a goal."

Golf

Perry's mother dies from cancer

Kenny Perry's mother has died after a long battle with blood cancer, and the 49-year-old American said he would play in the Presidents Cup next week in San Francisco at his family's request.

Even as Perry turned in one of his best years with three victories and a playoff loss at the Masters, he has been coping with an emotional home life as his mother was put in hospice in July. Perry recently had his son, Justin, caddie for him to keep close as a family.

Mildred Perry died peacefully Thursday morning in Franklin, Ky., of multiple myeloma, Perry's agent said. She was 79.

Alan Bullington said Perry's family urged him to compete next week at Harding Park in the Presidents Cup.

"While Kenny is deeply saddened by the loss of his mother, he and the entire Perry family are finding comfort in knowing that after a lengthy battle with cancer, her suffering has now ended," Bullington said in a statement. "Competing in the Presidents Cup next week will undoubtedly be an emotional challenge for Kenny, but he knows his mother and his family will find joy in watching him play."

■ Forbes says Tiger Woods has become the first athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings. The magazine estimates that golf's top-ranked player crested the plateau when he earned $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup on Sunday. The magazine says former NBA great Michael Jordan and former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, at $800 million and $700 million, respectively, are Woods' closest competition in career earnings.

■ See Page C8 for coverage of this weekend's tournaments.

NHL

Blues rally to beat Red Wings in Sweden

St. Louis edged the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in their NHL opener as the Blues rallied from two goals down to beat last season's Stanley Cup finalists. The game drew a sellout crowd of 13,850 at the Ericsson Globe Arena on Friday night in Stockholm.

■ Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby watched the Pittsburgh Penguins raise their Stanley Cup banner, then got the NHL champions off to a familiar start by each scoring during a 3-2 victory over the rival New York Rangers.

■ Ville Koistinen provided a fitting end to the first regular-season NHL game ever played in Finland. The Finish defender scored the winning goal in the shootout, lifting the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Helsinki.

■ Ray Emery made 28 saves in his Philadelphia debut, leading the Flyers to a 2-0 victory over host Carolina.

■ Canadiens All-Star defenseman Andrei Markov will be out for at least four months after slicing a tendon in his ankle. He was injured when Maple Leafs goaltender Carey Price caught the Russian with his skate during Montreal's victory on Thursday night.

Basketball

NBA's use of instant replay expanded

NBA referees will be able to use instant replay on shot-clock and out-of-bounds calls this season. The NBA Board of Governors approved the expanded use on Friday. Referees will be permitted to check replay to see if the 24-second clock expired before a successful shot or a foul. They can also consult video during the last two minutes of regulation and any overtime period to determine which player last touched the ball prior to it going out of bounds.

Nets' Lee to miss pre-season opener

The New Jersey Nets' Courtney Lee will miss the team's pre-season opener Sunday because of a sore left foot, the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., reported. "I know a lot about plantar fasciatis, but that's not what the doctor is calling it," the former Western Kentucky star said. "He just said it's inflamed at the bottom. It bothered me before a little bit, but a couple of days of just icing it has helped it for a couple of years and hopefully it will be the same this time."

■ Boston Celtics forward Bill Walker underwent successful right knee arthroscopic surgery. The team said no timetable has been set for his return. Walker also had surgery on the knee last year.

Etc.

Sharapova, Jankovic in Toyko finals

Maria Sharapova will have a chance to add to two previous career successes in Japan after advancing Friday to the finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. The Russian will face seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia on Saturday, hoping to break a title drought that extends back to April last year. She has won four of her previous five matches against Jankovic, who defeated China's Li Na 6-4, 6-3 in Friday's other semifinals.

■ Notre Dame basketball forward Scott Martin, expected to start for the Fighting Irish, will miss the upcoming season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The 6-foot-8 Martin sat out last season after transferring from Purdue, where he averaged 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 32 games as a freshman.

The last word

Carolina Panthers Coach John Fox on his team's 0-3 start after going 12-4 in 2008:

"There's a team that had the best record in football a year ago that's 0-3 (Tennessee). There's a team that won a division in the AFC East, Miami, that's 0-3 right now. There's a team (Pittsburgh) that won the world championship last year that's 1-2. There's another team out West (Arizona) that went to the Super Bowl, too, that's 1-2. So we're not the Lone Ranger. I don't want our team to think they are."