Sports briefs for May 7, 2004

Friday, May 7, 2004 | 10:06 a.m.

UNLV set for crucial showdown with SDSU

The first-place UNLV baseball team (28-17, 15-5 MWC) will look to stay atop the Mountain West Conference standings, as it plays host to third-place San Diego State this weekend.

The game times for this weekend will be today at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon. All three games will be broadcast live on KSHP 1400-AM and be available via Internet gametracker at www.unlvrebels.com.

The Rebels have gotten a huge boost from this week's Mountain West Conference Player of the Week Eric Nielsen, who over the last week is hitting .667 with 13 RBIs and four home runs. Over the same stretch, third baseman Zeke Parraz has been stellar at the plate, recording a .773 average with five RBIs and two home runs.

The Rebels will remain at home to host MWC rival Utah May 14-16. That series will include a Saturday doubleheader to make up for an April 18 game that was rained out in Salt Lake City. The Rebels will wrap up regular season play as they head to New Mexico May 20-22.

Atlanta, New Orleans fire their coaches

Terry Stotts was fired by the Atlanta Hawks' new owners today, ending the longest current coaching tenure in the Eastern Conference after just 1 1/2 seasons.

Stotts went 52-85, the third-worst winning percentage in franchise history. The Hawks finished 28-54 this season, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

The Hawks and the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers were sold to a nine-person group of investors in March by Time Warner Inc., which took over the teams through mergers that gave it control of Turner Broadcasting.

Five NBA coaches -- all in the East -- have lost their job since the season ended less than a month ago. The Celtics (Doc Rivers) and 76ers (Jim O'Brien) have hired replacements; the Raptors are still looking for a new coach.

Congress to release some drug evidence

The Senate agreed to release to Olympic officials and anti-drug monitors evidence that a committee has collected on banned performance-enhancing drug use among athletes.

The Senate approved release of the evidence without debate.

Officials with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency met privately on Wednesday with the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Nehles makes NCAAs

UNLV men's tennis standout Henner Nehles has earned an invitation to the NCAA Singles Championship to be held in Tulsa, Okla., on May 26-31, the national governing body announced Thursday.

The top four players in each of the NCAA's eight regions earn automatic bids and the sophomore from Duisburg, Germany, earned his berth from the Mountain Region.

The field of 64 will also include 32 at-large players. The draw will be released the week of the tournament.

BYU makes title game

Top-seeded Brigham Young and conference foe Long Beach State advanced to the NCAA men's volleyball championship Thursday night in Honolulu.

BYU (28-4) won a rematch of last year's title match, beating defending champion Lewis 30-21, 30-28, 30-21. In the first semifinal, second-seeded Long Beach State (28-6) defeated No. 3 Penn State 30-26, 30-26, 30-26.

BYU will play in its fourth championship in five years Saturday. The Cougars won NCAA titles in 1999 and 2001. Long Beach State is making its sixth Final Four appearance.

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