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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 +.Custom Early Wynn Jersey . 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The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick.ATLANTA -- At first, Russell Westbrook couldnt get the shots to fall. No problem. He crashed the boards and kept looking for his teammates.Then, he found his shooting touch.The result: another triple-double for the Oklahoma City star.Westbrook scored 32 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out 12 assists, extending his streak of triple-doubles to six games as the Thunder held off the Atlanta Hawks 102-99 on Monday night.It is the NBAs longest such run since Michael Jordan had seven in a row in 1989.I just read the game, Westbrook said. The game will tell you what to do.Westbrook has sparked a six-game winning streak by the Thunder and reached double figures in all three categories in half of their 22 games.By contrast, Jordan had 15 triple-doubles for the entire 1988-89 season.Obviously, the league hasnt seen something like this in a long, long time, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.Westbrook kept his streak alive with plenty of time to spare. He had 15 points and 11 rebounds when he picked up his 10th assist with 6:20 left in the third quarter. Scooping up a loose ball after a turnover by the Hawks, Westbrook led a 2-on-1 that ended with a pass to Victor Oladipo for a layup that gave the Thunder a 69-59 lead.My job is to find those guys, Westbrook said.He found his range in the third quarter after missing eight of his first nine shots. Westbrook knocked down five of seven, three of them beyond the arc, and finished with 16 points in the period as the Thunder stretched a one-point halftime lead to 83-69 heading to the fourth.Atlanta rallied down the stretch, but Westbrook closed it out for the Thunder. He finished with 27 second-half points to send the Hawks to their seventh straight loss and 10th defeat in the last 11 games.Its the longest losing streak for the Hawks since they dropped eight in a row in February 2014.Coach Mike Budenholzer decided to shake things up, sending Kyle Korver to the bench and putting Thabo Sefolosha in the starting lineup. The Hawks also were bolstered by the return of Paul Millsap, who had missed three straight games with a sore hip. He led five players in double figures with 24 points.It didnt matter. Westbrook made suure of that.ddddddddddddHe can do so many different things, said Sefolosha, who was often matched on Westbrook. Its definitely mind-blowing. And the way he does it. Hes everywhere.Atlanta had a shot to send the game to overtime after Korver forced a jump ball.Westbrook and the Thunder clamped down defensively off the inbounds play, and Tim Hardaway Jr.s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer failed to hit the rim.Cant dwell on it, Hardaway said. Ive got to move on to the next play, the next game.KORVERS NEW ROLEKorver played more than 31 minutes and seemed to thrive in his new role as a backup.He finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, knocking down three of them beyond the arc. It was his most points in a game since Nov. 22.Korver had averaged 6.6 points over his last seven games, which led to his benching.MONSTER JAMOladipo wasnt afraid to take on Dwight Howard in the lane.During the second quarter, the 6-foot-4 Thunder guard drove the baseline and slammed one over Atlantas 6-11 center, rocking the rim and drawing gasps from the crowd.Oladipo savored the moment, pumping his fists, stomping his feet and posing briefly in the lane even as the Hawks took off the other way.RECRUITING DWIGHTDonovan made a recruiting pitch to Howard while coaching at Florida.During his pregame chat with the media, the Oklahoma City coach recounted a visit to Howard and his father at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.Donovan quickly gave up any hope of getting Howard to attend college.All I had to do was watch one AAU game and then I stopped recruiting him immediately, he quipped.Howard, of course, went straight from high school to the NBA in the days before the rules required at least one year of college. He was the first overall pick by the Orlando Magic in 2004.UP NEXTThunder: Off until Friday, when they host the Houston Rockets.Hawks: Back in action Wednesday when the Miami Heat visit Philips Arena.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '