Kommandozentrale » ore of a compliment for what the program has done

DENTON, Texas - No. 16 Texas A&M notched a season-opening 25-14, 25-23 30-28 victory over Nevada today at the North Texas Challenge at the Mean Green Volleyball Center.Junior outside hitter Kiara McGee led the Aggies with 14 kills while hitting .300, and senior All-American middle blocker Jazzmin Babers pitched in 10 kills. Sophomore Kaitlyn Blake, who is being counted on to fill in for three-year starting middle blocker Shelby Sullivan who completed her eligibility last season, also hit .571 with eight kills and posted a match-high five blocks.Senior Emily Hardesty drew the start at the other outside hitter position and finished with a team-high 10 digs. Junior Ashlie Reasor started the first two sets at the opposite hitter position, with freshman Hollann Hans starting the third set in what marked her official Texas A&M debut. Hans, Texas A&Ms only freshman to see playing time in the match, was impressive, posting four kills in six attempts without an error and also tallying a solo block.Reigning SEC Player of the Year Stephanie Aiple had 33 assists while directing the Aggies to a .370 to .155 hitting percentage advantage. The junior needs only 14 more assists to give her 2,309 career assists and move her into the top 10 in the Texas A&M career records.Junior Amy Nettles was the designated libero in all three sets and finished with seven digs. Seniors Victoria Arenas and Katelyn Labhart each appeared in a set as a defensive specialist, as did sophomore Amy Houser to round out the 11 A&M players who made appearances on opening day.The Aggies, playing their first regular-season, non-home match in the Lone Star State since their 2011 swan song in the Big 12 Conference, got off to a fast start and led the entire first set while outhitting the Wolf Pack, .565 to .087 in the frame. Texas A&M held an 8-5 lead before using an 8-1 run to begin separating itself from the Wolf Pack. Nevada never got closer than six points, the last time coming at 19-13 before the Aggies used 6-1 run, including a block by Blake and Reasor that closed out the set.Nevada used a 6-0 run early in the second set to build its first lead of the match, 8-6. The lead was short lived, as Babers and McGee had back-to-back kills and Nevada hit long to put Texas A&M ahead, 9-8.McGee later had two kills during a 4-0 A&M run that gave the Aggies their largest lead at 22-17. Nevada, however, countered with a 5-0 spurt to tie the score, 22-22. A&M scored the next two points and was serving for the set at 24-22, but Nevadas Shayla Hoeft kept the Wolf Pack alive with a kill, putting Nevada within 24-23. McGee then answered with her eighth kill of the frame to end the set and give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.?The Wolf Pack made things interesting in the final set, taking the lead at 3-2 and not allowing the Aggies to take another lead until a kill by Hans put A&M ahead, 23-22. Nevada had an attack error to put the Aggies serving for the win, but the Wolf Pack would fight off four match points and eventually took a 28-27 lead following back-to-back kills. McGee tied the score for the 13th time in the set with a kill, and Blake followed with a kill to once again put the Aggies serving for the match, 29-27. Nevada was whistled for four hits on the final play to close out the contest.Madison Morell led Nevada with 14 kills.The Aggies conclude the North Texas Challenge with a pair of matches on Saturday. In a top-20 showdown, No. 16 Texas A&M faces No. 15 Ohio State at 1 p.m. at the Mean Green Volleyball Center. 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The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents.GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Virginia coach Tony Bennett didnt know exactly what to expect in the eighth-ranked Cavaliers season opener, between being down two forwards to losing so much from the team that made a deep NCAA Tournament push.When it was over, he saw the Cavaliers have some balance and depth to work with, along with a defense that looked ready from the tip.Marial Shayok scored 15 points to lead the offense in Virginias 76-51 win against UNC Greensboro on Friday night. Meanwhile, the defense -- the bedrock of Bennetts program -- held the Spartans scoreless for more than 11 minutes spanning halftime as the game turned into a methodical rout.With this team and us this year, I think theres even more unknowns because of the amount of newcomers, the lack of experienced guys, Bennett said. So we just didnt know what to expect. I just want them to battle and play hard each possession. It was a welcome first step for a team that lost a lot of production from its first trip to the NCAA Tournaments Elite Eight since 1995. London Perrantes was the only returning player to average at least five points per game, but Virginia had four players hit double figures Friday night.Virginia ran off a 22-0 run to blow the game open, shot 52 percent and made 8 of 16 3-point attempts with a juggled rotation with the absences of Memphis transfer Austin Nichols and Mamadi Diakite inside.Honestly I didnt know what to think coming in (defensively), said Isaiah Wilkins, who had 10 points and nine rebounds. Well take this as a marker and try to improve it on Tuesday.Francis Alonso scored 14 points for UNCG, which shot 37 percent. It marked the first time the program has hosted a ranked opponent in a season opener, though the Spartans ended up falling to 2-55 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference teams.We just ran into a buzzsaw tonight, sixth-year UNCG coach Wes Miller said. I think its something we can learn from and grow from.BIG PICTUREVIRGINIA: The Cavaliers were thin inside with Nichols out due to a violation of team rulles, and Diakite sitting due to an NCAA review of his amateur status.dddddddddddd That gave Bennett an extended look at some players who have spent time developing within Virginias program. Of note: 6-foot-11 redshirt sophomore Jack Salt got the start and had seven points in 27 minutes as he tries to earn steady rotation minutes and provide interior depth this season.UNCG: Picked to finish fifth in the Southern Conference, the Spartans quickly fell behind by double figures and made what amounted to only a 2-minute flurry of resistance. Hardly the start that Miller wanted from a team with four returning starters.My biggest disappointment was I think when it got away from us ... we were frustrated and disappointed and we let that affect us in the next possession, Miller said, adding: Were too mature, we have too much experience to let being down 15 points affect who we are on the next possession.POLL IMPLICATIONSBennett has described preseason rankings as more of a compliment for what the program has done in recent years as opposed to a measure of the current teams standing. But Miller was sold on the No. 8 team in the AP Top 25 , noting, We can talk for days about their defense.WING OPTIONSBehind Shayok, Darius Thompson scored 12 points with three 3-pointers, while Perrantes had 10 and freshman guard Kyle Guy scored seven on 3-for-5 shooting in his college debut.Guard-wise, I feel like we dont have certain starters every night, Thompson said. Anybody can come in and contribute ... so really it shows how deep we can be.UP NEXTVIRGINIA: The Cavaliers should get their first chance to integrate Nichols into the lineup Tuesday against St. Francis Brooklyn.UNCG: The Spartans play at home Monday against Presbyterian.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org or http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '