Sports

Dwayne Shaffer keeps it simple. In a season of countless accomplishments, UC Davis' men's soccer coach continues narrowing things to a single goal: The Aggies need to finish among the Big West Conference's top four teams to qualify for the league tournament.

Ismael Bamba streaked 50 yards downfield for one North Dakota touchdown. Josh Murray took a pitch 46 yards to set up another.

By halftime, it looked like yet another shootout was on tap for a homestand that had already seen its share of high-octane offense.

Clearly, the UC Davis defense had other plans.

The past seven times No. 8 UC Davis and No. 20 UC Irvine have gotten together on the soccer field, the game has either ended in a tie or a one-goal differential.

Saturday was no different.

In a game that UC Irvine needed badly to stay in the top half of the Big West Conference standings, the teams battled hard to their second 1-1 tie of the season at Aggie Soccer Stadium.

UC Davis' men's and women's swimming and diving teams arrived at the UC Santa Cruz campus on Saturday afternoon with expectations of swimming well. The teams did just that, beating the host Banana Slugs handily. The women's team picked up a 179-81 win, while the men left with a 180-127 victory. The dual between the Aggies and the Slugs was the first time the schools faced off one-on-one in the past five seasons.

Event: Las Vegas Intercollegiate Showdown

Host: University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Where: Boulder Creek Golf Club - Boulder City, Nev.

When: Today, tomorrow and Wednesday; all day

Long Beach State's 1988 national championship-winning women's volleyball team - a team that featured two-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor - was honored in front of 1,694 fans at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.

When the current squad took the court, they played like a dream team, as the 49ers (17-4, 6-2) knocked off the Aggies (10-12, 2-7) in three sets 25-15, 25-17, 25-15.

Men's tennis

UC Davis junior Hunter Lee picked up two victories on Sunday in the consolation draw of the ITA Northwest Championships in Berkeley. In his third match of the day, he was defeated by Washington's Brad Bator, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.

Lee's run started in the round of 32 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Yousef El Bouzkouri of Saint Mary's. Next up was Portland State's Kyle Erickson, who fell to Lee, 6-4, 6-2. That set the stage for the quarterfinal showdown against Bator.

Teams: UC Davis vs. North Dakota

Records: Aggies, 4-4 (1-0); Fighting Sioux, 5-1 (0-0)

Where: Aggie Stadium

When: Saturday at 6 p.m.

Radio: KHTK 1140 AM

Who to watch: Greg Denham has been making the most of UC Davis' current five-game homestand.

Teams: No. 8 UC Davis vs. No. 20 UC Irvine

Records: Aggies, 12-2-2 (4-1-2); Anteaters, 8-1-5 (1-1-3)

Where: Aggie Soccer Stadium

When: Saturday at 1 p.m.

Teams: No.11 UC Davis vs. No.16 Pacific; No. 19 Air Force; No. 10 Long Beach State

Records: Aggies, 7-10; Tigers, 10-12; Falcons, 12-8; 49ers, 12-7

When: Friday at 6 p.m.; Sunday at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Where: Schaal Aquatics Center

Teams: UC Davis at UC Santa Cruz

Where: East Fieldhouse Pool - Santa Cruz, Calif.

When: Saturday at 1 p.m.

Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara; Cal Poly

Records: Aggies, 6-5-3 (1-3-1); Gauchos, 10-5-1 (3-1-1); Mustangs, 8-7-0 (3-1-0)

Where: Aggie Soccer Stadium

When: Today at 2 p.m.; Sunday at noon

Teams: UC Davis at Long Beach State

Records: Aggies, 10-11 (2-6); 49ers, 15-4 (5-2)

Where: Walter Pyramid - Long Beach

When: Today at 7 p.m.

In the fall, Corbin Cutshaw looks like any other UC Davis running back.

He uses vision. He cuts. He bursts.

Then the spring arrives, and Cutshaw is still at it. He's still using vision, still cutting, still bursting - just like in the fall.

Sort of.

Teams: No. 8 UC Davis vs. Cal State Northridge

Records: Aggies, 11-2-2 (3-1-2); Matadors, 6-4-3 (2-0-2)

Where: Aggie Soccer Stadium

When: Today at 3 p.m.