USC, Virginia to play in NCAA tennis final

Virginia finally made it to a championship final. USC will be looking for a three-peat.

The top-ranked and top-seeded Cavaliers beat No. 4 Ohio State, 4-2, in the national semifinals of the NCAA tennis tournament Monday at Palo Alto to reach their first final in program history.

Steve Johnson and Daniel Nguyen earned wins to lead second-seeded USC (26-2) past Georgia (24-6), 4-0, to reach its third straight championship match.

Johnson set the tone with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Wil Spencer, and Nguyen clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Sadio Doumbia. Johnson, the top-ranked collegiate player in the nation, won his 28th consecutive match. He hasn’t lost since Jan. 17.

The undefeated Cavaliers (34-0) have entered the NCAA championship as the top-seeded team in each of the last four years. Ohio State finished 34-3.

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Allie Will clinched top-ranked and second-seeded Florida’s 4-0 victory over UCLA in the NCAA women’s national team semifinals at Palo Alto, sending the Gators to their second straight final and 12th overall.

Will beat UCLA’s McCall Jones, 7-5, 6-2, as the Gators (30-1) won their 20th straight. Florida’s lone loss came to top-seeded and second-ranked Stanford on Feb. 21 in the championship match of the National Indoor Team Championship.

The Cardinal (28-0) reached the final with a 4-1 victory over Baylor. Mallory Burdette clinched the match with her 7-5, 6-4 win over Nina Secerbegovic at No. 2 singles.

ETC.

Love, 7 others qualify for the British Open

Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III was among eight players who qualified for the British Open, giving him a spot in all four majors for the first time since 2007.

Brian Davis of England was the medalist at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas, with a six-under-par 64, and Chad Campbell finished one shot behind. The 36-hole qualifier was reduced to 18 holes because of heavy rain that caused a six-hour delay.

The British Open will be played July 15-17 at Royal St. George’s.

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Citing back problems, Fred Couples withdrew from the Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky.

Couples, winner of the 1992 Masters, was replaced by Blaine McCallister.

Earlier on Monday, Tom Wargo also dropped out because of a bad back and was replaced by John Harris. Wargo is the last PGA club pro to win the Senior PGA.

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Coach Ed DeChellis, who led Penn State to the NCAA basketball tournament this year, resigned to take the vacant job at Navy.

The 15-year coaching veteran said he found “a calling” in announcing the surprise move two months after orchestrating his alma mater’s first NCAA bid in a decade.

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Joe Steffy, who helped pave the way for Heisman Trophy winners Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis on some of Army’s best teams and won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman in 1947, has died. He was 85.

Army announced that Steffy died at Newburgh, N.Y., on Saturday. He had dealt with heart problems in recent years.