STARKVILLE, Miss. - Heart and grit are the staples of Bulldog volleyball. On Friday night in front of a raucous crowd of 1,409 at Newell-Grissom, the Mississippi State Bulldogs fought to the end but dropped a 3-0 decision to the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks.Evie Grace Singleton paced the Bulldogs with 8 kills, while Jelena Vujcin and Chelsea Duhs each turned in 7 on the night. The setting duo of Blossom Sato and Riley Duzenack turned in 14 and 13 assists, respectively, while Bali Leffall-Young paced State with 4 blocks.I cannot say enough how proud I am of this team and the fight they showed tonight, MSU head coach David McFatrich said. We preach heart, soul and grit with Bulldog volleyball and they gave it their all against a very good Kansas team. We wish the result was different, but this is only the first match. We have a long way to go and Im confident that this team is going to do great things.The 1,409 fans that packed The Griss on Friday stands as the third-largest crowd in program history and is the highest opening day total at Newell-Grissom since 2011.Our fans were amazing and I cannot thank them enough for showing up and being as electric as they were, McFatrich said. Ive always said that The Griss is the best place in America to play collegiate volleyball and that really rings true when our fans pack this place out.After the Bulldogs grabbed several early leads, Kansas pushed out to as much as a five-point lead in the first set. MSU would not relent, eventually coming back to within one, down 20-19. A pair of kills from Vujcin would keep the Dogs close and bring the Griss crowd to its feet, but Kansas pulled away and survived the first frame, 25-22.A number of errors plagued State early on, but once again the toughness of Bulldog volleyball shined through. MSU would fight back after being down several early four-point deficits, tying it up at 11-11 and again at 12-12. State would hang tough once again, but could not jump out in front, as the Jayhawks took a two-set lead with a 25-20 victory.Friday nights third set was a grinding battle early on, but a 7-1 Kansas run put the Jayhawks out in front. The Bulldogs would attempt several runs, but could not complete the comeback and dropped the final set 25-17 to close out the match.We seemed to shine across the board tonight, but there are still some areas we have to improve in. Bottom line is we have two matches tomorrow against good squads and thats where our focus is right now. Were excited to get back out there.State returns tomorrow at noon CT against the Lamar Cardinals, who dropped a straight-sets decision to the Eastern Washington Eagles. MSU will cap off the day with a 7 p.m., showdown against the Eagles. Both matches will be broadcast on SEC Network +. Camiseta Atletico De Madrid Niño .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Camiseta Personalizadas Baratas . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. http://www.atleticomadridtiendaonline.es/camiseta-diego-costa-atletico-de-madrid.html . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Camiseta Griezmann Atletico De Madrid . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. Camiseta Griezmann Atletico 2018 . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday.MIAMI -- The list of coaches with back-to-back NBA championships includes some of the games giants -- names such as Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Chuck Daly, and of course Pat Riley. Erik Spoelstra is now part of their fraternity. And he seems completely unimpressed by that. At just 42 years old, Spoelstra is now a two-time champion coach with the Miami Heat, having guided the club to the last three NBA Finals and last two titles. Only 12 other men in the history of the league have multiple titles as a coach. Only seven others have collected rings in back-to-back years -- and of those, six have been immortalized in the Basketball Hall of Fame. To most people, joining such a group would sound like some major accomplishment. For Spoelstra, not so much. "Not really," Spoelstra said, asked if hed stopped to consider the historical significance of his back-to-back titles. "No." Thats why this week, when Spoelstra would be within his rights to continue celebrating Miamis seven-game triumph over the San Antonio Spurs for this seasons title, hes not on a beach somewhere. Instead, hes in his office, where he plans to be for the next few weeks to prepare for the looming draft (even though the Heat currently have no picks to use Thursday night), the start of free agency and Miamis upcoming summer-league appearances. Hes the guy who started in the Heat video room before working his way up to being entrusted with what Heat managing general partner Micky Arison and Riley, the teams president, have spent nearly two decades building. Spoelstra likes to quip that for the first two years, Riley didnt even know his name. "I dont think that he gets enough credit for his abilities to be able to manage us," said Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who has spent all 10 of his pro seasons working with Spoelstra. "He does a great job of managing egos. He does a great job of keeping us level-headed. It takes a special guy to have guys of this calibre to all stay on one path and not jump off. Thats his strength, his ability to be able manage this team. Thats his greatness with this unit." Spoelstra told his team in the beginning of training camp -- and on a preseason trip to China -- that this path to a championship would have to be different. He was right. His team rolled through the regular season, winning 27 straight games at one point on the way to a 66-16 record. But in the playoffs, the Heat had to grind, first through a 1-0 deficit in the second round against Chicago, then a Game 7 against Indiana in the East finals, then seven more games against the Spurs. "Starting in China together, having an opportunity to visit the White House together, having an opportunity to sharre the All-Star weekend together, 27-game win streak, and then we get into the playoffs, after that first round that playoff run felt more challenging," Spoelstra said.dddddddddddd "In some ways it was extremely gratifying." On the way to the 2012 title, he had a black replica of the NBA championship trophy made as part of his motivational tactics to use during the playoffs. And a similar ploy was used this time around. Another black trophy, this time with a slightly different design and theme, was part of the bond the Heat forged for the playoffs, a reminder of the promises players and coaches made along the way. A marker was used to denote on the trophy how the Heat were advancing along the title path. "It bound our agreement of what we would be willing to do and to sacrifice for each other," Spoelstra said. "We made our marks, in order of seniority. The couple middle rounds, we made with blood red because those series were so dang physical. And the last one, out of ultimate respect for our competitor, absolute, ultimate respect for who we were playing, we made them in silver for the Spurs." It took more than a motivational trick to beat the Spurs. One of Spoelstras best memories of his second championship season as coach of the Heat was the aftermath of the teams most lopsided defeat. It was Game 3 of the NBA Finals, a night where the Heat lost to the Spurs by 36 points and fell behind in the championship series. Spoelstra, searching for answers, retreated to his hotel room. The first knock on his door was from assistant coach David Fizdale. The next was from another assistant, Dan Craig. And the third was from Riley, who was bearing gifts. "I was despondent. I was beside myself," Spoelstra said. "I went back to my suite to break down film after the game. Fiz stopped by so we could work it out. Dan Craig stopped by to bring us film and to work it out. And about 20 minutes later Pat knocks on my door, and he comes in with three bottles of wine and he said Coach, what do you need me to do? So we gave him a laptop and he helped us break down film. "It was one of the most special moments in my professional career." Days later, Riley and Spoelstra were arm-in-arm in the back hallways of AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, celebrating another Heat championship. For Riley, its his ninth overall. For Spoelstra, his third, including the one he claimed as an assistant in 2006. They have no plan to stop now. "Its going to be hard to keep up with what were doing for his whole career," Wade said. "But he is one of the games young greats. And he is on the path of the Pat Rileys and those kind of coaches." ' ' '