Teams: No. 10 UC Davis vs. No. 19 Santa Clara
Records: Aggies 21-8 (11-1), Broncos 16-9 (13-4)
Where: Schaal Aquatics Center
When: Saturday at noon
Who to watch: For the first time all season, an Aggie earned the nod for Western Water Polo Association Player of the Week.
Senior attacker Christi Raycraft was the choice after she led UC Davis to a perfect 5-0 record last weekend with 12 goals, eight ejections drawn and nine steals. It was the second such honor of the Davis native’s career.
Did you know? This year is all about record-breaking.
Raycraft has broken not only the season total of 71 exclusions drawn, but she also snapped Tiffany Hodgens career record last weekend. Senior defender Jessica Soza is now the school’s career minute leader with 2,738, averaging over 20 minutes a game throughout her four-year career.
As a team, UC Davis has already broken a record with 214 assists on the season. The Aggies’ exclusion drawn total (224) is just two shy of the season record, which they will surely surpass this weekend.
And if they win out, including the WWPA tournament, it will break the record for wins in a single season.
Preview: With only two regular season games remaining, UC Davis will meets its last conference challenge before the WWPA Tournament when it faces a scrappy Santa Clara team.
The Broncos have beaten defending conference champion Loyola Marymount University this year, along with impressive victories over UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield.
The Aggies will meet the Broncos with not only stars but depth this weekend.
“In the Colorado State game it was mostly Laura (Uribe) and Raycraft,” head coach Jamey Wright said. “But the rest of the weekend we got a lot more balanced scoring. It makes us a much more difficult team to defend.”
The two senior standouts combined for 24 goals last weekend while the rest of the squad helped UC Davis outscore its opponents 61-28.
With a win, UC Davis clinches the top seed of the WWPA Championships, which are to be held Apr. 25 to 27 at LMU.
