Sports

Women's soccer

The margin of victory was one goal or fewer in each of the Aggies' 13 games entering play on Friday.

That changed for the worst at Cal State Northridge.

Dylan Curtis' career was over.

A senior academically but a junior athletically, the captain of UC Davis' men's soccer team decided to forgo his final year of eligibility.

Starting tailback Joe Trombetta was out.

Same with top reserve Brandon Tucker.

But it didn't matter, as freshmen running backs Corbin Cutshaw and Josh Reese combined for 202 rushing yards to help UC Davis to a 55-24 victory over Iona.

On Oct. 13, the Aggies (11-2-2) became the No. 7 team in the nation and were flying high after a win at then No. 15 UC Santa Barbara.

This week, however, didn't fare as well for the Aggies as they suffered their first Big West Conference defeat at the hands of UC Riverside, 2-1.

Saturday was the day for the Aggies to learn how to race on the national stage. While there, they met - and beat - teams from all over the country.

Finishing 23rd in the "White" race, the Aggies beat teams such as Texas, Colorado State and Cincinnati. Although they raced in the separate "Blue" race, the Aggies ran a much faster team-time than Big West Conference members UC Irvine and UC Riverside.

The Aggies' topsy-turvy season continues. The UC Davis women's volleyball team was on the upside of things this weekend, earning its first Big West Conference victories to double last season's conference win total.

Going into this weekend, the UC Davis women's cross country team was one of the best teams no one knew about.

Now, people know.

Everyone knew it was going to be a tough weekend, but not this tough.

Head coach Steve Doten tested his players this weekend by scheduling games with two of the nation's best in No. 5 Pepperdine and No. 3 California.

The Aggies dropped their first contest by a score of 14-9 on Friday, and then fell 11-2 on Saturday.

Men's and women's swimming and diving

The Aggies men's and women's teams have been picked to finish second and third in the 2008-09 Big West Conference Swimming and Diving Coaches Poll, respectively.

Teams: UC Davis vs. Iona

Records: Aggies, 3-4; Gaels, 3-3

Where: Aggie Stadium

When: Saturday at 7 p.m.

Teams: No. 7 UC Davis at UC Riverside

Records: Aggies, 11-1-2 (3-0-2); Highlanders, 3-9-2 (0-4-0)

Where: UCR Soccer Stadium - Riverside, Calif.

When: Saturday at 6 p.m.

Teams: No. 13 UC Davis vs. No. 4 Pepperdine; No. 5 California

Records: Aggies, 7-8; Waves, 12-4; Golden Bears, 10-4

When: Friday at 7 pm; Saturday at noon

Where: Schaal Aquatics Center

Teams: UC Davis at Cal State Northridge

Records: Aggies, 6-4-3 (1-2-1); Matadors, 5-7-1 (0-2-0)

Where: Matador Soccer Field - Northridge, Calif.

When: Today at 2:30 p.m.

Event: NCAA Pre-Nationals; Santa Clara Brono Invitational

Where: LaVern Gibson Course - Terre Haute, Ind.; Baylands Park - Santa Clara, Calif.

When: Saturday at 11:35 a.m.; 9:45 a.m.

Who to watch: There's one problem with having a great front-runner and a very talented group of freshmen: another top runner can be overlooked.

The UC Davis men's golf team is used to being the underdog. It's used to chasing the country's top teams from behind.

After the Aggies' most recent tournament, those days may be over.

In a field that featured five of the nation's top 25 teams and 10 of the top 50, UC Davis beat them all on Tuesday, shooting an 871 to finish in second place behind unranked TCU (861) at the Prestige at the PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.