Williams, Davenport Advance

Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport beat Frenchwomen on Friday to set up an intriguing semifinal in the Advanta Championships at Villanova, Pa.

Williams, seeded third, ousted Sandrine Testud, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7), and second-seeded Davenport dispatched eighth-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Top-ranked Martina Hingis of Switzerland struggled before defeating Amy Frazier, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. She will face fourth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, who defeated local favorite Lisa Raymond of Wayne, Pa., 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

Today, Williams squares off against Davenport, the player she is chasing in the world rankings. With a victory, and a better finish in next week’s season-ending Chase Championships at New York, No. 3 Williams can move ahead of Davenport.

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Jeff Tarango upset seventh-seeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the $1-million Kremlin Cup at Moscow. Rosset is a two-time Kremlin Cup champion and ranked 37th, 43 places higher than Tarango.

In another quarterfinal, top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia downed Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Jurisprudence

Lenny Dykstra, formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies, pleaded not guilty to a single charge of sexual battery for allegedly fondling a 17-year-old girl who worked at his Simi Valley car wash.

Dykstra, 36, a Thousand Oaks resident, was not present for the arraignment in Ventura County Superior Court. The plea was entered on his behalf by Los Angeles attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli.

A trial date is set for Dec. 10.

Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor was entrapped during a drug deal last year, his lawyers claimed in asking a judge in Clearwater, Fla., to drop charges against him. But prosecutors argued that the motion to dismiss was not clear and Circuit Judge Lauren Laughlin told defense lawyers to reword and resubmit it Nov. 30--the day the 10-time Pro Bowl player is scheduled to go to trial.

Miscellany

Young America had a successful return to the America’s Cup challenger sailing series in New Zealand, winning its first race in a new boat.

The New York Yacht Club’s first boat was crippled after bending on a wave on Tuesday. Young America’s USA58, which was structurally reinforced after USA53’s dramatic mishap, cruised to a comfortable victory over Defi Francais.

The arena football Avengers signed receiver-defensive back Saladin McCullough, receiver Greg Ainsworth, safety Ray Jackson and linebacker Dusty Renfro.

Ketil Moe of Norway, a lung transplant recipient who ran the New York City Marathon last Sunday despite doctors’ warnings, died of a bacterial infection in Copenhagen. He was 32.

Moe, who was also diabetic, had collapsed Wednesday during a stopover in Copenhagen on his way home.

He had been told not to run the marathon. But doctors also had warned him about many of the 12 marathons he had run before his 1997 transplant, races he sometimes entered with bleeding lungs.

Moe completed the 26.2 miles in 7 hours 25 minutes 54 seconds, placing 31,559th among 31,807 finishers.

David Green, a former Busch Series stock car racing champion who has had a difficult time showing his talent in Winston Cup, finally made it to the top of the heap in NASCAR’s headline series.

Green, 41, led a Pontiac onslaught at Homestead-Miami Speedway, winning the pole for Sunday’s inaugural Pennzoil 400 at Homestead, Fla.

USC plays its final men’s basketball exhibition tonight at 7:30 against the Double Pump All-Stars at the Lyon Center.

Kentucky State suspended 13 women basketball players after the owner of a sporting goods store accused nine of them of taking $12,000 in merchandise. The four others were suspended for receiving stolen items. No charges have been filed.

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, midfielder Claudio Reyna and forward Joe-Max Moore were among the 16 players selected for the United States’ exhibition soccer game at Morocco on Wednesday.

The UCLA women’s soccer team begins play in the NCAA tournament today when it hosts San Diego at 1 p.m. at the North Athletic Field.

Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia needed to skate twice to lead the men’s event in the Nation’s Cup Grand Prix figure skating at Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Plushenko’s first attempt was cut short after 45 seconds when his boot cover strap ripped. He had to stop and was allowed to come back at the end of the group. Given a second chance, he took first with a rapid routine to “Saber Dance.”

Two-time World Cup and Olympic champion Cuba lost a set to the United States but rallied to win, 25-12, 26-24, 21-25, 25-13, and remain unbeaten in the women’s volleyball World Cup tournament at Tokyo.

For the first time in 14 years, warm weather forced World Cup ski races out of Utah. The season-opening event at Park City--men’s and women’s slalom and giant slalom--was shifted to undetermined dates at an unspecified Colorado ski area.