Sports

The Aggies traveled to Idaho in hopes of beating one of the top programs in the country, but left with disappointment as they fell to Boise State 38-3 Saturday night at Bronco Gymnasium.

No. 11 Boise State, which boasts seven nationally ranked wrestlers - including four ranked in the top five, handed the Aggies their sixth loss of the season which dropped them to 7-6 on the year and 3-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Heading into Saturday's Big West Conference opener against UC Santa Barbara, coach Bill Maze knew how tough a fight it would be to be for the Aggies to come out victorious.

"It's going to be a very tough match, a real battle," Maze said before the match. "We'll have to play very, very well to beat UCSB."

Even though the Aggies (4-4) did indeed play well, putting up 50 singles points to the Gauchos 66, it proved not to be enough as UCSB picked up a 5-2 win.

If there is one thing the Big West Conference has, it's parity.

The UC Davis men's basketball team sits in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big West standings after upsetting league-leading Long Beach State on Thursday and then falling to UC Riverside on Saturday.

Teams: UC Davis at Long Beach State; UC Riverside

Records: Aggies, 9-12 (4-4); 49ers, 11-9 (6-2); Highlanders, 11-9 (3-5)

Where: Walter Pyramid - Long Beach, Calif.; Student Rec Center - Riverside, Calif.

When: Today at 7:05 p.m.; Saturday at 5:15 p.m.

Radio: KFSG (1690-AM)

Who to watch: Long Beach and UC Riverside shared the same fate in their first encounter with UC Davis this season: they couldn't stop Mark Payne.

Team: UC Davis at Seattle Pacific

Where: Brougham Pavilion - Seattle, Wash.

When: Saturday at 7 p.m.

Who to watch: Though last week's balance beam - on which the Aggies had to count two falls - may not on the surface appear to have been a success, there was indeed a silver lining.

Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Irvine

Where: Schaal Aquatics Center

When: Saturday at noon

Who to watch: Coming from Fresno, Calif., senior Amber Bonds is wrapping up her career as an Aggie in a big way.

Who: UC Davis vs. No. 40 Fresno State; Pacific

Records: Aggies (1-2); Bulldogs (1-0); Tigers (0-1)

Where: Wathen Tennis Center - Fresno, Calif.; Marya Welch Tennis Center

When: Saturday at 4 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.

Who to watch: Nick Lopez, a sophomore from Miramonte High School, was recently named a Big West Conference Tri-Athlete of the Week. In three matches in Portland, Lopez posted a 2-1 record in singles and a 1-2 mark in doubles play.

Event: Cathedral City Kickoff

Teams: UC Davis vs. Southern Illinois; Fordham; James Madison; Illinois

Records: Aggies, 0-0; Salukis, 0-0; Rams 0-0; Dukes 0-0; Fighting Illini 0-0

Where: Cathedral City, Calif.

When: Saturday at 10:30 a.m., 6 p.m.; Sunday at 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

Who to watch: In order for UC Davis to build on its 2008 season, it will need help in the circle, starting with star hurler senior Jessica Hancock.

Teams: UC Davis vs. Long Beach State; Cal State Fullerton

Records: Aggies, 7-12 (3-5); 49ers, 4-16 (1-7); Highlanders 11-9 (7-1)

Where: The Pavilion

When: Today at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 5 p.m.

Who to watch: The last time UC Davis faced Long Beach State, the Aggies found themselves down by one point with nine seconds remaining.

eams: UC Davis at No. 11 Boise State

Where: Bronco Gymnasium - Boise, Idaho

When: Saturday at 7 p.m.

Who to watch: Last Friday against Oregon State, sophomore Abe Otrambo registered the Aggies' lone bonus-point victory with a pin only 1:30 into his match. The Anaheim, Calif. native is having a solid year and is second on the team with three pins.

Who: UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara

Records: Aggies (4-3); Gauchos (1-0)

Where: Marya Welch Tennis Center

When: Saturday at 11 a.m.

Who to watch: Posting an overall singles record of 11-10, junior Desiree Stone has proved to be an invaluable asset at the No. 2 singles position.

Event: Triton Invitational

Teams: No. 9 UC Davis vs. Redlands; No. 18 UC San Diego or No. 12 Marist; TBA; TBA

Records: Aggies, 2-2; Bulldogs, 2-3; Tritons, 0-0; Red Foxes, 0-0

Where: Canyonview Pool - La Jolla, Calif.

When: Saturday at 9 a.m., TBA; Sunday at TBA, TBA

Who to watch: Sophomore Dakotah Mohr drew a combined 20 exclusions over the four-game NorCal Cup last weekend.

Event: Waikoloa Intercollegiate

Where: Mauna Lani Resort North Course - Waikoloa, Hawaii

When: Today, tomorrow and Friday; all day

Who to watch: Austin Graham wasted little time in making an impact during the fall season. Now, he'll look to get off to a similar start in the spring.

Men's tennis

The UC Davis men's tennis team opened its 2009 season by going 1-2 at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center in Portland, Ore. over the weekend.

The Aggies were defeated by Portland, 6-1, in their season opener Friday. The Pilots took two of three doubles matches for the first point of the day before winning five more times in singles. Nick Lopez claimed a singles win at No. 2 for UC Davis, while Josh Albert teamed with Kevin Liang for a win at No. 3 doubles.

Although they posted a season-high 191.300 against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, the disappointment in coach John Lavallee's voice was at once palpable.

"We came down to the end," said Lavallee following the loss to the Titans, who scored a 193.125. "We had some trouble on beam; we had to count two falls on beam. We were pretty close to putting up a really good score."