BUTLER TWP— Becky Smith was named team MVPat the annual Butler High School girls volleyball banquet recently.

Smith was also nmed first team all-section. Stephanie Mock received Butler's Best Defensive Player Award and was also first team all-section. Best offensive players were Abbie Druschel and Amanda Huey.

Brynn Maxwell was named the Golden Tornado's Most Improved Player.

Butler picked up the program's first playoff win this year before losing in five sets to North Allegheny in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

NEW YORK — Mike Mussina took a secret to the ballpark every day this season. Maybe that's why he was so successful on the mound, so jovial in the clubhouse.From Day One of spring training, he knew this was his final year — even if it meant giving up bids for 300 wins, a World Series ring and a better shot at the Hall of Fame.The New York Yankees pitcher walked away from baseball after his only 20-win season, a month shy of his 40th birthday with a still-potent right arm.Mussina finished 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 seasons with Baltimore and New York. A thinking man's pitcher who relied on sharp control and did more than overpower hitters, he ranks 32nd on the career wins list and 19th in strikeouts with 2,813.

PHILADELPHIA — Three-time All-Star Chase Utley, who anchored the middle of the lineup for the World Series champion Phillies, will have surgery and may not be ready for the start of the 2009 regular season.Utley will have surgery next week to repair any bone or cartilage damage he may have in his right hip. He will be able to begin baseball activity in three to four months. But depending on the extent of the damage, full recovery could take until May, team officials said.Utley was bothered by symptoms during the season but still hit .292 and led all second basemen with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs.

CONCORD, N.C.— Matt Kenseth signed a multiyear contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing to continue driving the No. 17 Ford.The deal comes at the end of one of Kenseth's most disappointing seasons: He failed to win a race for the first time since 2001, and his 11th-place finish in the standings was his lowest since that season.But the 2003 series champion has been with Roush since 1998, winning 16 Sprint Cup races and 24 Nationwide Series races.