The Nevada football team hit the field Friday afternoon for the first time since being shut-out in December’s New Mexico Bowl.

“It still wears on me today,” freshman quarterback Colin Kaepernick said of their 21-0 loss to New Mexico. “Every time I go into the film room and look at film it comes back into my memory. I think that’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever been shut-out. That’s always going to be with me.”

Matt Bowman could have just hung up his cleats after last year’s season-ending injury.

A long recovery gives an athlete plenty of time to collect his thoughts and weigh in the consequences of returning and possibly reinjuring the same muscle. Hunting with his dad and cousin might have sounded more appealing than gritting out a third season with the Wolf Pack.

Luke Lippincott sits in the film room, eyes closed, and visualizes the attack. His muscle memory takes over as he repeatedly concentrates on the play, carving the precise reaction time into his brain.

Days later, out on the football field, he practices taking the handoff, breaks tackles and crosses the goal line.

The small-town girl has finally made it to the big city.

Johnna Ward, who dominated the Class 3A during her four years of high school for the Spring Creek Spartans, has already started to stand out for Kim Gervasoni’s basketball team this season.

Dellena Criner has shown she can steal and score.

But she vowed after last season to become a more dynamic leader and defender for the Nevada basketball team.

“Dellena’s not your vocal or rah-rah type of leader,” Nevada coach Kim Gervasoni said. “She’s a leader by example and intensity. Training was great and it helped groom Dellena into a better leader.”

Criner attended leadership conferences over the summer and believes it will help her team reach the top of the Western Athletic Conference and earn another postseason tournament berth.

“It’s very important because I want to help communicate with my teammates,” Criner said. “We just need to finish strong and give it our all.”

The Nevada volleyball team defeated Idaho in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. The fourth-seeded Wolf Pack (16-10) won in four games over the fifth-seeded Vandals (13-15) to move on to Friday’s semifinal match with defending champ Hawaii.

Nevada enters the WAC Tournament as the fourth seed and will face Idaho on Thursday at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. The winner will probably face the host and second-seeded New Mexico State Aggies. The Wolf Pack split with the Vandals during the regular season and lost both matches to NMSU.

Entering her fourth year as the athletics director for the University of Nevada, Cary Groth has helped the Wolf Pack build a strong reputation, not only regionally but nationally. Since arriving in 2004, Groth has continued to strengthen schedules, build new facilities, and give back to the community. The Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada honored Groth along with three others in their fifth annual “Celebrating Women in Leadership” dinner on Thursday.

As of Sunday, CBS Sports has Hawaii playing Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. Nevada is projected to return to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and face Tulsa from Conference-USA, while Boise State hosts Florida State in the Humanitarian Bowl and Fresno State travels south to play Utah in the New Mexico Bowl.

Coming into his second season with the Wolf Pack, Fields is looking to make a difference as he tries to replace shooting guard Kyle Shiloh, who graduated last year. Fields said he worked more on his offense and focused on parts of his defensive game.

After tearing up Northern Nevada for the last two seasons playing for the Hug High School Hawks, Johnson comes to the Nevada men’s basketball team with a shot at going from local prep star to starting point guard of a program that’s been in the NCAA Tournament four straight years.

A friend’s beach birthday party in the summer of 1999 exposed Teal Ericson to a sport she would come to love almost as much as family. The idea didn’t cross her mind that she would later go on to play in a premier club, become a high school standout and earn a full-ride scholarship to the University of Nevada, Reno.

If competing in one college sport isn’t hard enough, try doing two and see what you think. If you need help, just ask Sarah Hunt for her method to balancing a 16-credit schedule, soccer and softball, as well as coaching a traveling softball team in the spring. Hunt will respond in two words.

The Nevada swimming and diving team fell from second to fourth place over the weekend at the Pacific Invitational in Stockton, Calif. Nationally-ranked California competed in the second and final day Saturday to win the event with a score of 808.50 points, while Nevada finished with 517 behind Oregon State (626.50) and Pacific (603).

One down, two to go: Nevada hosts scrimmage Friday