Miscellany

In Sendai, Japan, the United States men’s volleyball team beat favored Japan 15-7, 15-12, 15-9, its fifth straight victory in World Cup competition.

Although it’s one of four teams with 6-2 records, the United States advanced to third place, based on its record in sets. Italy (8-0) is first and the Netherlands (6-2) is second in the 12-team event.

The Louisville Slugger is heading for home.

For 21 years, the wooden bat, native to Louisville, has been manufactured in a non-descript plant across the Ohio River in Jeffersonville, Ind. In January, Hillerich & Bradsby Co. will return production of the American classic to the street in downtown Louisville where a teenager, John A. Hillerich, turned the first Slugger 111 years ago.

Facing a shortfall of nearly $800,000 in its athletic department budget, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas may ask to borrow as much as $240,000 from accounts that include donor funds.

Athletic officials say the plan is a last resort to cover the budget deficit.

The average baseball salary went down by nearly $58,000 this year, the first substantial decline in 30 years.

The average salary was $1,110,766, according to final figures released by the Major League Baseball Players Association. That was a 5 percent drop from the 1994 average of $1,168,263.

Don’t make plans to see Mike Tyson fight Buster Mathis Jr. just yet.

New Jersey gambling authorities say a Tyson-Mathis bout planned for Dec. 16 would violate a 1994 ban preventing promoter Don King from doing business with the casinos.