While some Aggie teams aim to keep up their strong performances, others strive to improve from last year
By COLINA HARVEY — sports@theaggie.org
As students return from winter break and classes slowly resume, winter sports are already in full swing. This quarter, students have a chance to catch a wide variety of sports, including basketball, tennis, lacrosse and water polo. Here’s the rundown on some of the teams that will be competing this winter.
Women’s Basketball
The UC Davis women’s basketball team enters a promising season; they were a force to be reckoned with in the Big West for the past few seasons. Last season, the Aggies made a deep run in the Big West Playoffs, but unfortunately fell to San Diego in the final.
Since then, the team lost four graduating seniors, some of whom played a key role in the previous season. Among them was Tova Sabel, last year’s team leader in points per game, as well as field goals and 3-pointers made. The team also lost assist leader Sydney Burns, as well as Mazatlan Harris and Bria Shine.
Despite these departures, the Aggies have started the season strong. Their overall record is 10-4, and they are undefeated in their three conference games. Their remaining schedule will determine their postseason position, as the rest of their matchups are all in-conference games.
Tennis
Although women’s tennis already competed in some tournaments in the fall, their season opener is against Stanford University on Jan. 14. Last season, the team struggled, going 11-14 overall and 3-6 in conference. Despite their losing record, they were able to beat UC San Diego in the first round of the Big West tournament. Unfortunately, their season came to an end in the next round when they fell to California State University, Long Beach.
In early October, six players competed in the Big West Qualifier tournament. In the first round, five Aggies claimed victory over their opponents. However, the second round saw all of the Aggies getting knocked out, except for Polina Marakhtanova, a second-year cognitive science major. However, she was unable to make it past the round of 16, where she was defeated by a player from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
Similarly, the men’s tennis team has yet to start their spring season, but participated in tournaments in the fall: including the Nevada Reno Hidden Duals; the UC Santa Barbara Classic; the Aggie Invitational; the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Tournament; and the UC San Diego Classic.
While the team had a solid season last year, going 4-2 in conference, they fell to Long Beach State in the second round of the Big West playoffs. This season, the team hopes to improve on that performance and go deeper into the postseason.
Lacrosse
This winter and spring, lacrosse will be playing its second season in the Big 12. Last season, the team went 2-3 in their new conference, securing a spot in the postseason tournament. The Aggies faced the No. 1 seed University of Florida, and were defeated by the Gators in the first round of the playoffs.
The team participated in some scrimmages in the fall and is set to play its first official game on Jan. 31 against Dominican University. Since the Big 12 women’s lacrosse is such a small conference — with only six teams — the Aggies will have plenty of matches before they start conference play in the spring.
Women’s Water Polo
Women’s water polo will start its spring season on Jan. 17 against Santa Clara University. They will participate in a series of tournaments before beginning conference play on Feb. 21.
The team hopes to improve its results this season, after being middle-of-the-pack last year. In the last Big West Tournament, they lost in the first round to UC San Diego. They will have two games and a tournament to get into a groove before they begin conference play on Feb. 21.
Aggie fans can catch these teams’ home games all quarter long, as they take on opponents from across the country. The winter season is just beginning for the majority of sports. For more information on game dates, visit the UC Davis Athletics website.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org
