Enquirer staff and wire reports

Ernie Els scored close victories over Scott Drummond and Angel Cabrera Friday to move into the semifinals of the World Match Play Championship at Virginia Water, England, and stay on course for a record sixth title.

Today's semifinals pit Els against Padraig Harrington, and Miguel Angel Jimenez or Bernhard Langer against Lee Westwood.

Jimenez, who defeated Union's Steve Flesch 3 and 2 in the first round, was leading Langer 3-up after 28 holes when darkness halted their 36-hole match.

PGA TOUR: Brent Geiberger finished with a bogey-free 67 in the second round of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. His 11-under 133 was one better than 2001 PGA champion David Toms (65), Tom Pernice Jr. (68) and Jeff Brehaut (66).

LPGA TOUR: Grace Park shot a 5-under 67 for a 15-under 129 and opened a four-shot lead after 36 holes in the Samsung World Championship. Three-time tournament champion Annika Sorenstam shot 68 and was tied for fourth, five shots off the lead.

Amateur Michelle Wie matched par and was 17 shots back through two rounds. Wie, a 10th-grader in Honolulu who turned 15 Monday, was 19th in the select 20-player field.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tom Kite, even after the front nine, made five birdies over his next seven holes for a 5-under 66 in the opening round of the SBC Championship in San Antonio. Kite was tied for the lead with playing partner Tom Jenkins, Dave Stockton and James Mason.

Tennis

KREMLIN CUP: Venus Williams was upset by unseeded Elena Bovina 6-3, 6-2 in a quarterfinal that lasted little more than an hour in Moscow. New world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-1 to secure her spot in the semis against French Open and defending Kremlin Cup champ Anastasia Myskina.

In the men's quarterfinals, Greg Rusedski upset second-seeded Joachim Johansson 7-6 (5), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (7). He will play third-seeded Dominik Hrbaty in the semifinals.

Hockey

MIAMI BEATS IRISH: Anaheim Mighty Ducks draft choice Matt Christie, a sophomore center, scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to break a 2-2 tie and lead No. 10 Miami past Notre Dame 4-2 in a CCHA opener for both teams at Goggin Arena.

Sophomore winger Marty Guerin added a short-handed goal with 47 seconds left.

Chris Michael and Todd Grant also scored power-play goals for Miami (3-0-0, 1-0-0 CCHA). Notre Dame fell to 0-2-1, 0-1-0.

EX-STINGERS VOICE DIES: Dick Carlson, who did the radio play-by-play for the WHA Cincinnati Stingers in 1978-79, died at his Minneapolis home Thursday, 10 days after heart surgery.

Pro basketball

BLAZE TRYOUTS: The ABA Cincinnati Blaze will hold a tryout camp today and Sunday at Cincinnati State. They are 10 a.m.-noon and 4-6 p.m. today and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday. Among those expected to attend are former University of Cincinnati Bearcats Kareem Johnson and Damon Flint.

PACERS: Rookie center David Harrison sprained his right shoulder during practice and will not play in today's game at Memphis.

Horse racing

KEENELAND: Ticker Tape will shoot for her fifth stakes win of the year today in the Grade I $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.

• Friday, Josh's Madelyn rallied after a stumbling start and won the $224,200 Raven Run Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Vision of Beauty.

RIVER DOWNS: Retired Charlie Woods, 54, who won riding titles at Churchill Downs, Turfway Park and RD has become a jockey agent for Jeff Johnston, 35.

Local colleges

Women's field hockey

Shutout: Bannister (5 saves). Goals: Chiampi, Humphreys. Records: B 4-9 (4-2 MAC), M 5-9 (0-6).

Men's soccer

Goals: X-Frasher 2; RI-Gotsmanov 2, Tumicz. Records: X 4-8-1, RI 8-4-1.

Women's soccer

Goals: NKU-Votapek, Martini; Ind-Marcon. Records: NKU 11-3-0 (8-1-0 GLVC), Ind 6-7-1 (3-4-1).

Shutout: X-Garber (5 saves), RI-Carroll (8 saves). Records: X 4-9-1 (3-2-1 A-10), RI 7-6-2 (4-0-2).

Volleyball

Northern Kentucky (13-8, 6-3 GLVC) d. Saint Joseph's (10-15, 5-4) 30-26, 24-30, 31-29, 30-19

Urbana JV d. UC Clermont (10-4) 30-25, 13-30, 15-30, 30-24

Xavier (11-8, 5-1) d. George Washington (4-13, 1-5) 30-22, 30-20, 30-22

Toledo (13-5, 3-4 MAC) d. Miami 4-12 (2-5) 30-21, 27-30, 30-19, 30-25

Mount St. Joseph (20-3) def. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (9-14), 30-24, 30-23, 30-21

Mount St. Joseph (21-3) def. Millikin University (19-6), 30-22, 30-16, 30-17

*The Mount, ranked eighth in the nation (CSTV/AVCA), has won 12 straight matches.