Karch Kiraly is chosen head coach of U.S. women’s national volleyball team

Karch Kiraly, one of the most decorated volleyball players of all time, has been chosen as head coach of the U.S. women’s national volleyball team in preparation for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Kiraly, the only athlete to win Olympic gold medals in both indoor and beach volleyball, takes over for Hugh McCutcheon, who led the women’s team to a silver-medal finish at the London Olympics.

McCutcheon, who also coached the men’s national team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, has taken over as head women’s coach at Minnesota.

Kiraly, who led UCLA to three national championships as a player, was McCutcheon’s assistant for the quadrennial leading up to London.

Etc.

An ambulance was sent to the home of Texas Tech men’s basketball Coach Billy Gillispie for the second time in 10 days while he remains on leave as the school investigates his leadership of the program.

Lubbock Police Sgt. Jeff Baker said that the emergency call came from Gillispie’s home around 6 p.m. Monday and that an ambulance was sent.

A spokesman for University Medical Center, where Gillispie earlier spent six days this month, said Gillispie did not come there. A spokeswoman for the other hospital in Lubbock said Gillispie was not brought there.

Gillispie, in a text message to the Associated Press late Tuesday, said he would be treated for high blood pressure “amongst other things,” at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Gillispie is on indefinite sick leave and Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt said he is no longer making day-to-day decisions for the program so he can focus on his health.

“Nor is he to engage with our program in any way until he and I have a chance to sit down and talk face to face,” Hocutt said.

On Aug. 31, Gillispie called 911 and was taken to the medical center. It was the same day he was supposed to meet with Hocutt to discuss allegations he had mistreated his players. The school has reported excessive practice-time violations to the NCAA and reprimanded Gillispie in January.

===

Harvard basketball co-captain Kyle Casey plans to withdraw from school amid a cheating scandal that also may involve other athletes, according to several reports.

Sports Illustrated and the Harvard Crimson reported that Casey, a senior, would take a leave of absence from school in an attempt to preserve a year of eligibility once the issue is resolved.

Co-captain Brandyn Curry also has been implicated in the scandal and is weighing his options, his father told the magazine. The Boston Herald reported Curry also is expected to withdraw from classes.

The school is looking into whether at least 125 undergraduates in what has been reported to be an Introduction to Congress class of about 280 students cheated by working together on a take-home final exam in the spring.

School officials have declined to release the students’ names.

The Crimson reported that other athletes, including football players are also among those implicated.

Harvard is coming off Ivy League championships in both football and basketball, where the Crimson made their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1946 last season, going 26-4.

===

Olympic champion McKayla Maroney fractured her left tibia Sunday in Ontario when she fell on her uneven bars dismount during the second stop of a 40-city gymnastics tour. USA Gymnastics said that her leg is in a brace, and she and her family are consulting with doctors on treatment. It’s not certain when she’ll return to the tour.

Aly Raisman, who bruised her knees in a separate fall off bars, is expected to return this weekend. The tour resumes Thursday in San Diego.

===

The United States Anti-Doping Agency says sprinter Debbie Dunn has accepted a two-year suspension after testing positive for a prohibited substance. USADA says lab tests of a sample provided by the 34-year-old Dunn at the U.S. Olympic trials resulted in an “adverse analytical finding for an anabolic agent.”

Dunn finished fourth in the 400 meters at the trials in June. She was selected for the American relay pool, but took her name off the team roster before the London Games after her positive test for excessive testosterone.

===

Representatives of the NHL and the players’ union are expected to meet face-to-face in New York on Wednesday before each side conducts its own informational meetings on the stalemated labor discussions.

The NHL’s labor agreement will expire on Saturday at 8:59 p.m. Pacific time and Commissioner Gary Bettman has said he will lock players out if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached.

The league and the NHL Players Assn. are expected to send small delegations to the joint meeting, in keeping with the small-group structure of their most recent sessions. Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly are expected to lead the NHL group, with top NHLPA negotiators Donald Fehr and his brother, Steven Fehr, leading the union. Some players and/or owners might also attend.

Afterward, the NHLPA’s executive board and negotiating committees will meet Wednesday and Thursday to update the general membership. The union anticipates that more than 250 players will attend. The NHL’s board of governors will meet on Thursday, also to be updated on issues. Bettman can impose a lockout without the express approval of the governors, but they are expected to back him as he tries to reduce players’ share of hockey-related revenues from 57% last season to 46% in the next deal and exclude more revenues from being shared.

— Helene Elliott

The Boston Bruins continued their pre-lockout signing strategy, agreeing with forward Tyler Seguin on a six-year, $34 million contract extension. Seguin, 20, led Boston with 29 goals and 67 points last season, and posted a plus-34 rating.

On Friday, the Bruins locked up forward Brad Marchand to a new, four-year deal.

===

The Chicago Blackhawks reached a contract agreement with defenseman Michal Rozsival on a one-year deal. Terms were not disclosed. The 34-year-old Rozsival had a goal and 12 assists in 54 games for the Phoenix Coyotes last season.