Sports in brief: Serena fined for tirade at Open

Tennis: Serena Williams was fined $10,000 Sunday for a profanity-laced tirade directed at a U.S. Open line judge, and an investigation is under way to determine whether there should be additional punishment.

The $10,000 penalty – not quite 3 percent of the $350,000 in prize money Williams earned by reaching the semifinals at Flushing Meadows – is the maximum on-site fine that can be issued for unsportsmanlike conduct at a Grand Slam tournament.

The U.S. Open said in a statement that the Grand Slam committee administrator will “determine if the behavior of Ms. Williams warrants consideration as a major offense for which additional penalties can be imposed.”

Associated Press

Michigan returns to Top 25

College football: After a season on the outs, Michigan is back in the AP Top 25.

The Wolverines, unranked all last season while finishing 3-9, were No. 25 in the Associated Press college football poll released Sunday.

Michigan moved into the media ranking for the first time since the end of the 2007 season after a thrilling 38-34 victory against Notre Dame on Saturday. The loss dropped the Fighting Irish out of the rankings.

Florida remained No. 1 after it’s second landslide victory. The Gators received 56 first-place votes. Texas is still No. 2, with one first-place vote.

No. 3 Southern California received a first-place vote for the first time this season after Matt Barkley and the Trojans used a late-fourth quarter touchdown to rally past Ohio State 18-15 on the road.

Associated Press

Record crowd for Nebraska

Volleyball: Nebraska set an NCAA volleyball attendance record on the same day its 90-match home winning streak ended.

A crowd of 13,870 was on hand at the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday for UCLA’s five-set win over the Cornhuskers. The attendance broke the NCAA regular-season, single-match record of 13,412, set last year when LSU visited Nebraska.

The 18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7 loss to UCLA was Nebraska’s first at home since Florida A&M beat the Huskers in 2004.

The Huskers play most of their home matches at the 4,030-seat Nebraska Coliseum.

Associated Press