IN BRIEF

GOLF

Thatcher eyes his own miracle: victory to retain PGA Tour card

Roland Thatcher remained on track in an improbable bid to keep his PGA Tour card, shooting a 2-under-par 70 Saturday to take a four-stroke lead in the Children's Miracle Network Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Thatcher began the season-ending event 179th on the money list and needs to win or finish alone in second to vault into the top 125 -- the cutoff for full status -- to retain his card. Nos. 126 to 150 get partial status.

Thatcher would have had a record 54-hole lead at Disney if he hadn't given back three shots in the final two holes to finish at 18-under 198. Tim Simpson had a six-stroke lead after three rounds in his 1990 victory.

Chris Stroud (70) stood second at 212 entering today's final round.

Also: Suzann Pettersen moved into position for her first LPGA Tour victory of the year, shooting a 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Pettersen, the Norwegian star who has 10 top-five finishes this season, was at 12-under 204. Ai Miyazato (68), Stacy Lewis (69), In-Kyung Kim (68) and Karine Icher (68) were tied for second at 11 under, and second-round leader Paula Creamer (72) was another stroke back.

Former UNLV standout Adam Scott shot a 2-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Singapore Open, a tournament he won in 2005 and 2006. The Australian had a 14-under 199 total.

Defending champion Ian Poulter (68) and Kang Kyung-nam (68) were tied for second at 13 under, and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell (68) was another stroke back. Phil Mickelsen fell off the pace with a 75 that left him 12 strokes behind Scott in the event sanctioned by the Asian and European tours.

Brady Exber shot a 5-under 67 to take a four-stroke lead over Aj McInerney after the first round of the two-day Clark County Amateur at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City.

Trik Caspary and Dennis Moore each shot 72 to share the first-round lead in net division play.

UNLV ATHLETICS

Volleyball team gets defensive in five-set victory over Utah

The UNLV women's volleyball team recorded 79 digs and a season-high 20 blocks in a 3-2 Mountain West Conference victory over Utah at Cox Pavilion.

Kela Lau Lee had 19 digs and Nile Te'o and Kendra Glendenning added 17 each to lead the Rebels (9-19, 4-10 MWC) past the Utes 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-10 in a victory dominated by defense.

Amanda Alles had a team-high 22 assists and 11 blocks for UNLV. Sara Nehf finished with a match-high 19 kills.

Also: Freshmen Jessica Heim and Katelyne Herrington combined for five event victories as the UNLV women's swim team beat Colorado State 156-144 in a Mountain West dual meet at Buchanan Natatorium.

Heim posted wins in the 200-yard butterfly (2 minutes, 4.13 seconds), 500 freestyle (5:00.09) and 1,000 free (10:18.90). Herrington won the 100 free (52.99) and teamed with Brittany Ozar, Lisa Gillespie and Rachel Dixon to capture the 200 medley relay (1:45.39).

The UNLV women's cross country team took 27th of 31 teams at the NCAA West Regional in Springfield, Ore.

Lauren Petersen (21:47.56) placed 90th for the team's top finish.

MISCELLANEOUS

Monfils beats Federer, to face Soderling in Paris Masters final

Gael Monfils saved five match points to beat top-seeded Roger Federer 7-6 (7), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4) and reach today's Paris Masters final against Robin Soderling.

Soderling saved three match points before overcoming Michael Llodra of France, 6-7 (0), 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Monfils faced five match points in the 12th game of the final set before forcing the tiebreaker with an ace.

Federer shanked a forehand to give Monfils two match points, and the Frenchman converted the first with a service winner.

Also: Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash announced that he and wife Alejandra are in the process of a divorce.

The Phoenix star and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player revealed the situation in a statement, one day after the birth of the couple's son, Matteo.

The Florida Marlins traded outfielder Cameron Maybin to the San Diego Padres for right-handed relievers Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb.

Maybin, 23, hit .234 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs last season. He made 74 starts in center field.

Mujica, 26, was 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in 59 games for the Padres, and the 24-year-old Webb was 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 54 games.

The ball Babe Ruth hit for his 702nd career home run fetched $264,500 during an auction at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, Ky.

Ruth hit the home run in 1934 and later signed the ball. It had been passed down by three generations of a Minnesota family before going to the auction block.

Two former Brigham Young football players are being sued with several other people in a lawsuit accusing them of stealing more than $50,000 worth of gasoline.

The case was filed last week by Murray, Utah-based A-Core Concrete Cutting Inc. against five named defendants and nine who were not named.

Among them are former BYU standout and NFL player Reno Mahe, former BYU player Tevita Ofahengaue, Mark Evers, Fred Prescott and Michael Andrus.

David Haye stopped Audley Harrison in the third round to retain the WBA heavyweight title in Manchester, England.

Haye proved too strong for the 39-year-old Harrison, knocking him down in the third round and prompting referee Luis Pabon to stop the first all-British heavyweight title bout in 13 years to prevent further punishment.

Russia defeated the United States in four sets to reach the final of the women's world volleyball championship in Tokyo.

Ekaterina Gamova scored 22 points to lead the defending champions to the 25-16, 13-25, 25-19, 25-21 win over the second-ranked Americans.

In today's final, Russia will face top-ranked Brazil, which rallied from two sets down to defeat host Japan, 22-25, 33-35, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11.