Sports briefs for May 25, 2005

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | 9:49 a.m.

Gouldsmith tabbed MWC coach of the year

UNLV baseball head coach Buddy Gouldsmith was named the Mountain West Conference coach of the year, and seven Rebels were selected to the all-conference team. Justin Tellam, Mike Cruz, Zeke Parraz, Ryan Bird, JC Sibley, Derek Rodriguez and Efren Navarro Jr. were all named to the MWC All-Conference squad as selected by the league's coaches.

Gouldsmith earns the award in his second year at the helm of the Rebels as he helped engineer UNLV's strong turnaround this season.

The Rebels started the season 6-15, but were playing one of the toughest schedules in the MWC, including games against three teams in Collegiate Baseball's top 10.

But over their final 35 games the Rebels went 24-11, including a MWC-best mark of 23-7 in league play to win the regular-season championship.

Nehles faces Vanderbilt star

UNLV's Henner Nehles put his 10-match winning streak on the line today in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championship.

Nehles, ranked 74th in the nation, took on 39th-ranked Scott Brown (17-6) of Vanderbilt in a match scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

Named the 2005 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and the ITA Mountain Region Senior of the Year, Nehles currently holds a 28-8 overall record, including a 19-5 mark at the No. 1 dual position. His 28 wins tie for the sixth-most in program history and are the best by a Rebel since 1994.

Labor talks to be held today in Chicago

Hoping to build off momentum from last week, the NHL and the players' association will resume labor talks today and Thursday in Chicago, back in a smaller-group format and without their leaders.

The sides are returning to the table just five days after concluding four straight days of meetings that featured 22 hours of full negotiations between Thursday and Friday.

While commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Bob Goodenow testified last week on Capitol Hill before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee pursuing legislation on drug testing in sports, smaller groups of negotiators got together for discussions in New York.

WNBA has first black female owner

Former television executive Sheila Johnson became the WNBA's first black female owner when she joined a group that purchased the Washington Mystics.

Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, became a part-owner of Lincoln Holdings LLC, which bought the team from Abe Pollin's Washington Sports & Entertainment.

-- Sun wire services