IN BRIEF

TENNIS

Sweden-Israel match not allowing any fans

The Davis Cup match between Sweden and Israel will be played without spectators in Malmo, Sweden, next month after an attempt fell through to move the venue to Stockholm.

Swedish organizers Tuesday cited security concerns for the closed-door policy because anti-Israeli demonstrations are expected during the best-of-5 series March 6 to 8.

"It's terrible that they are trying to mix politics with sports, especially in an enlightened country like Sweden," said Michael Klein, chairman of the Israeli Tennis Federation.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Tuesday the decision was not for his government to make.

"If local authorities decide to prevent spectators from attending, what can I say?" Palmor said.

Also: The U.S. Davis Cup team will go with its regular lineup for an opening-round match against Switzerland.

U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said Andy Roddick, James Blake and the doubles team of twins Bob and Mike Bryan will compete March 6 to 8 in Birmingham, Ala. The foursome has been together for 11 of the past 12 Davis Cup matches.

COLLEGES

One big inning thwarts UNLV's baseball team

The UNLV baseball team gave up seven runs in the second inning and couldn't recover, losing to Arizona 14-7 at Wilson Stadium.

Drew Beuerlein led the Rebels (3-2), going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Rance Roundy was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Also: The UNLV women's golf team shot 16-over-par 304 in the final round of the Wildcat Invitational in Sonora, Mexico, finishing 13th in the 17-team event.

The Rebels finished at 49-over 921. Top-ranked UCLA won at 5-over 869, and New Mexico's Jodi Ewart and Southern California's Lizette Salas shared medalist honors at 3-under 213.

Alejandra Guacaneme led UNLV at 10-over 226, tied for 28th.

UNLV football coach Mike Sanford hired DeAndre Smith as running backs coach and Jed Stugart as linebackers coach.

Smith was an assistant coach at New Mexico last season, and Stugart spent the last three seasons as head coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University, an NAIA school in Kansas.

The West Coast Conference announced it has sold out its all-session tickets to its men's and women's basketball tournament March 6 to 9 at the Orleans Arena.

A limited number of single-session tickets for the March 6 games will go on sale March 4. Single-session tickets for all remaining dates will not be available until the day of the game beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Capacity for the WCC Tournament at The Orleans will be 7,845.

MISCELLANEOUS

American wins silver in Nordic skiing worlds

American Kikkan Randall sprinted frenetically through the snowfall, stretching her ski across the finish line and breaking new ground for U.S. skiing.

Randall held off Finland's Pirjo Muranen in a photo finish in Liberec, Czech Republic, to take silver in the sprint at the Nordic skiing world championships, becoming the first American woman to win a world or Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.

Randall, of Anchorage, Alaska, led for most of the 1.3-kilometer final but was overtaken by Italy's Arianna Follis in the last turn before the home straight. Follis finished in 2 minutes, 39.3 seconds, and Randall was 0.6 seconds back.

The silver was the first American cross-country medal since Bill Koch won bronze in the 30k at the 1982 worlds.

Also: Two-time Olympic boxing champion Guillermo Rigondeaux defected to the United States, 18 months after he was kicked off the Cuba team as punishment for a previous defection attempt.

Farah Colina said her husband had no choice but to flee Cuba if he wanted to box again. Rigondeaux, 28, won bantamweight gold medals at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

Salt Lake City police said thieves who ransacked the home of David Zabriskie stole thousands of dollars in bikes and Olympic memorabilia from the world-class cyclist.

Zabriskie's loss is estimated at just under $160,000, although not all of the 21 stolen items on a list made public by police have been assessed a value.