Nicole Fawcett had 24 kills, Megan Hodge added 23 and top-seeded and unbeaten Penn State beat Nebraska, 25-17, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 15-11, last night to set up a title rematch with Stanford at the NCAA women's volleyball championships in Omaha, Neb.

Second-seeded Stanford advanced with a 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory over No. 3 Texas. The Cardinal became the first team in the history of the volleyball final four to win after losing the first two sets.

Penn State (37-0) came in having won every set it had played this season, and the Lions won the first two against Nebraska to run their NCAA record streak to 111 before they lost the third and fourth.

Nebraska (31-3) led 10-8 in the fifth set, but Fawcett pounded a kill to start a 7-1 Penn State run to end the match.

An NCAA tournament-record crowd of 17,400 at the Qwest Center — all but a few dressed in red — came out in an ice storm to root for the Huskers, who were playing 50 miles from their Lincoln campus. Penn State kept the crowd mostly subdued for two sets, displaying the power and dominance it had shown all season.

Stanford (31-3), runner-up the last two years, will try to avoid becoming the first team to lose in three straight finals.

Alix Klineman had 20 kills, Cynthia Barboza added 19 for the Cardinal.

"We have to feel lucky to go on after a match like that," Stanford coach John Dunning said. "We're very happy to be doing that."

AUTO RACING

NASCAR SETTLES $225M SUIT WITH EX-EMPLOYEE

NASCAR has settled a $225 million lawsuit filed by a former official who said she was subjected to racial discrimination and sexual harassment during her two-plus years working for the stock-car organization.

The suit was settled during a Dec. 3 mediation held in New York between Mauricia Grant and NASCAR. Settlement terms were confidential. Neither side admitted liability or wrongdoing, according to NASCAR.

"We're glad to have the case settled on mutually acceptable terms," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said yesterday.

Grant's attorney, Benedict P. Morelli of New York-based Morelli Ratner PC, did not immediately return a call from the AP for comment.

Grant, who is black, worked as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series from January 2005 until her October 2007 termination. In the lawsuit filed in June in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Grant alleged 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination during her employment.

BOXING

PACQUIAO, HATTON CLOSE TO DEAL FOR MAY 2 FIGHT

Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton are close to finalizing a deal to meet in a 140-pound bout on May 2, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told The Associated Press yesterday.

The proposed fight, likely to be held in Las Vegas, would match boxing's unofficial pound-for-pound champion against one of the world's most popular brawlers, assuredly generating huge paydays for both fighters.

"I'm encouraged by the way it's going, and I'm talking to the Hattons (today)," Schaefer said.

In his last bout, Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) moved up two weight classes to batter Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6.

He would move back down one weight class to face Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs), the hard-living English star who won his last bout against Paulie Malignaggi on Nov. 22, defending his 140-pound title.

Hatton won twice this year after the only loss of his career, to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007.

SAILING

AMERICA'S CUP HAS 18 CHALLENGERS TO ALINGHI

Four new teams have signed up to race in the America's Cup, bringing the total to 18 syndicates ready to challenge Switzerland's Alinghi.

Organizers said yesterday that Italy's Luna Rossa and China Team returned to challenge after initially pulling out following the last edition in July 2007. The former Areva Challenge team from France has returned as K-Challenge.

Racing cannot begin before a New York judge first rules whether Alinghi must sail against BMW Oracle in a best-of-three series. A decision could be expected by Feb. 10.