BAYAMON, Puerto Rico. - Alabama volleyball opened its weekend at the Puerto Rico Clasico with a tough five-set win over Virginia Tech Thursday night.Alabama (4-1) and Virginia Tech (3-1) traded set victories throughout the match, sending both teams to a fifth set. The Tide led by as much as four points late in the fifth before the Hokies fought back within one late. Back-to-back kills by Kat Hutson and Krystal Rivers ended the set, 15-12, and gave Alabama the close win. Rivers accounted for 22 of the teams 56 kills, hitting .326 along with 14 digs, good for her second double-double of the season. Brittany Thomas and Natalie Murison tallied 13 digs each, with Thomas hitting .333 with nine kills.Virginia Tech took an early two-run lead in the first set and eventually pulled ahead by five points at the halfway mark, leading 12-7 as Alabama took a timeout. A 7-2 run out of the break allowed the Tide to tie the score at 14-14 and a kill by Hutson gave Alabama its first lead of the frame, 15-14, with the Hokies taking a timeout. The two teams traded back and forth until, tied at 22-22, a block by Thomas and back-to-back kills by Rivers and Thomas gave Alabama the 25-22 win.The Hokies charged out to an early 8-3 lead in set two, forcing an early Tide timeout. Virginia Tech maintained its five-point lead at the next Alabama timeout, up 13-8, and eventually hit the 20-point mark with a 10-point lead. The Hokies reached set point with a double-digit lead, 24-13, and eventually won, 25-14, to even the match at 1-1.Tied at 2-2 early in set three, Alabama built a large lead with a 9-3 run as Virginia Tech took a timeout trailing 11-5. The Hokies burned its second timeout soon after, trailing 15-8, but eventually cut the deficit to five points as Alabama took its own timeout leading 18-13. The Tide continued to surge ahead, closing out the set with a service ace by Murison to win 25-16 and take a 2-1 match lead.The two teams traded points back and forth through the first half of set four, with neither team taking a lead larger than two points. The Hokies took its largest lead at 14-11 but the Tide swung back in front, 17-16, with Virginia Tech taking a timeout. Looking to close out the match, the Tide pulled ahead 21-17 but the Hokies rallied and scored seven-straight points and hit set point, 24-21. A kill by Hutson briefly gave Alabama possession but Virginia Tech knocked in a kill to win the set, 25-22, and force a fifth set.A service ace by Rivers gave Alabama an early 6-3 lead in set five at Virginia Techs first timeout and two more points made it an 8-3 lead at the midway point of the set. The Hokies fought back to draw within one point, 9-8, but the Tide pulled back ahead 13-9 before Virginia Tech managed to make it a 13-12 game as Alabama took its last timeout. A kill by Hutson made it match point and Rivers capped the win with a kill for a final score of 15-12.Next up, the Tide continues play at the Puerto Rico Clasico against Florida State on Friday, Sept. 2 at 4:30 p.m. CT.For the latest information on Alabama volleyball, follow the team on Twitter (@AlabamaVball), Instagram (AlabamaVball) and Facebook. Air Max 270 Pas Cher . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Air Max 95 Pas Cher Femme . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. https://www.grossistechaussurepascher.fr/grossiste-chinois-chaussures-pas-cher-soldes-en-ligne-142a.html . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Grossiste Chaussures . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. Acheter Chaussures Pas Cher .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. CHICAGO -- Commissioner Rob Manfred says baseball wants to study high-profile positions within the sport to see if certain qualifications predict success, a step that has everything to do with minority hiring.Baseball had no Latino managers before Rick Renteria took over the Chicago White Sox last month. Dusty Baker of the Washington Nationals and Dave Roberts from the Los Angeles Dodgers are the only black skippers among the leagues 30 teams.But there were 10 minority managers as recently as 2009, according to Richard Lapchick of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.Certain perceptions develop as to what people are looking for in particular positions and then people write stories saying, `Oh, thats a problem on the minority front because, you know, maybe minorities are less likely to share these characteristics, Manfred said Thursday at the conclusion of two days of owners meetings.I think a first step in addressing those concerns is identifying which ones really matter and then you start to identify candidates who have all those qualifications and say, hey this may be the perfect guy for you and I have some science behind it in order to demonstrate that he is the best candidate, or she.Major League Baseball hired Korn Ferry last year in part to help top minority candidates in their interviews for positions in baseball operations. But Manfred said the search firm is going to focus on openings for individual clubs when its retained because of the potential for conflicts when it works for the central office and teams at the same time.When the White Sox announced Renterias promotion, they highlighted his ability to communicate in English and Spanish. But Manfred said there are all sorts of factors that could be considered.You could name probably 20 things off the top of your head, he said. The question is, once youve named them, do any of them really predict success on the field?While MLB briefed the owners on baseballs highly successful postseason and the upcoming World Baseball Classic, the ongoing labor talks with the players occupied a significant portion of the meetings at a downtown Chicago hotel, already decked out in its best Christmas decorations.The collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. Negotiators for owners and players have been meeting since spring training.I remain optimistic that were going to make a deal, Manfred said. This process is not predictable in terms of time.dddddddddddd I said there were certain natural deadlines out there. The beginning of the market was one and the expiration of the agreements another, and Im hopeful that were going to get a deal done before that latter deadline.Manfred declined to address any details from the bargaining sessions, but he said an international amateur draft remains on the table.Manfred also touched on several other fronts with the sport and the owners quarterly meetings:-The owners approved changes with the leadership structures in Oakland and Philadelphia, with John Fisher becoming the control person of the Athletics and John Middleton taking over the same position with the Phillies. The As announced that Lew Wolff will be transitioning from managing partner to chairman emeritus, and that he had agreed to sell most of his interest to the remaining owners.Fisher and Middleton each controlled the biggest stake in their specific teams before taking over their new roles.I think the ownership committee has a strong preference that the individuals who are either the largest or one of the largest equity owners in clubs be the individual who is the baseball control person, Manfred said.-Manfred also reacted to supermodel Kate Uptons online support of fiance Justin Verlander after the Detroit Tigers ace finished second to Bostons Rick Porcello in voting for the AL Cy Young Award. Verlander was left off the ballot by two voters, prompting a series of tweets by Upton that were widely circulated on social media.The particular content of the tweet Im not going to comment on, a chuckling Manfred said. I do think that engagement on social media by players and people close to players is important in todays world. I think that it brings attention to the sport at a point during the year when its our offseason and we have less going on.-The Cubs first World Series title since 1908 helped generate great ratings during the playoffs, and there is talk around the sport about how to build on the success from the postseason.Were not going to have the Cubs and 108 years every year, Manfred said. But I think there are lots of compelling baseball stories that can help us produce the kind of postseason popularity that we enjoyed this year.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '