AREA

SOUTHEAST SOFTBALL TEAM BEGINS OVC PLAY TODAY

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team will begin its Ohio Valley Conference schedule today as Eastern Kentucky visits the Southeast Softball Complex for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. There will also be a 1 p.m. single game Sunday.

In a preseason poll of the OVC's softball coaches, the Colonels (12-7) were picked to finish second while the Otahkians (3-10) were tabbed for third.

Top volleyball teams face off today in Perryville

Forty-eight teams from as far away as Memphis, Tenn., and Springfield, Ill., are entered in the annual Perryville Classic, a United States Volleyball Association event scheduled for today in Perryville, Mo.

Teams will compete in six categories -- three for men and three for women -- at six sites. Classes include the top A division, as well as the B-plus and B divisions. The top A-division teams will compete at Perryville High School (men's teams) and Perryville Middle School (women's teams).

Games begin at 9 a.m. Championships are scheduled for about 5 p.m. at each site. There is no admission fee.

Chaffee baseball opens season with victory

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The host Red Devils rolled past Kelly 18-3 in the opener for both teams. The game was stopped after the top of the fifth inning by the 10-run rule.

Zac Horman pitched four innings for the victory. He allowed two first-inning runs but settled down after that. Horman gave up six hits and all three runs. He struck out four and walked three.

Chase Eskew and Sam Burnett each had two of Chaffee's 10 hits. Burnett drove in four runs and Eskew had three RBIs.

Central swimmers place second in triangular

ST. LOUIS -- The Central High School girls' swimming team finished second in a triangular meet hosted by Incarnate Word. The Tigers had 124 points, behind Incarnate Word (135) and ahead of Hannibal (64).

The Tigers (2-6) won seven events. Terra Herzberger was a double individual winner as she captured the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

ELSEWHERE

COLLEGES

Bob Huggins has decided he will accept a lucrative, incentive-filled contract from West Virginia, according to a report by CBS.

"He said, 'I'm taking it. We are going to get this thing going at West Virginia,'" a source told CBS. "He's excited about it."

Huggins was not available for comment.

Golf

At ThePlayers Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Phil Mickelson completed a first-round 64 and shot a 75 in the second to finish at the same number he started -- 5-under par for a 139 total, leaving him one stroke behind clubhouse leader Carl Paulson when the second round was suspended by darkness.

Juli Inkster shot out of the pack with an 8-under 64, good for a three-shot lead over Dorothy Delasin and Nancy Scranton in the Welch's-Circle K Championship at Tucson, Ariz.

Tennis

At Key Biscayne, Fla., Andy Roddick lost his opening match at the Nasdaq-100 Open to Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

No. 3-seeded Martina Hingis beat Janet Lee 6-1, 6-0, and No. 8 Serena Williams swept Lilia Osterloh 7-5, 6-1.

Anna Kournikova slipped to 0-for-102 late Thursday. She has entered 102 tournaments without winning a title and came up seven rounds short at the Nasdaq-100 Open.

-- From staff, wire reports