Sports

The UC Davis women's water polo team finished off conference play in true Aggie fashion.

Eight different UC Davis players scored and Santa Clara was held scoreless for 29 minutes in an 8-3 victory at the Schaal Aquatics Center.

The contest was the last conference test for UC Davis before it travels to Loyola Marymount to compete as the likely top seed at the Western Water Polo Association Championships.

"I'm glad for the one-seed because it's a reflection that we've been playing well, and that's a good thing," said head coach Jamie Wright. "You want to play well going into conference."

Teams: UC Davis vs. Portland State; Nevada; UC Irvine

Records: Aggies, 8-10 (1-3); Vikings, 5-12; Wolf Pack, 4-13; Anteaters, 8-12 (1-1)

Where: Marya Welch Tennis Center; Galena High School - Reno, Nev.; Marya Welch Tennis Center

When: Today at 2:30 p.m.; Saturday at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.

Who to watch: Despite what may be going on around him, senior No. 5 singles player Daniel Elefant always has winning on his mind.

Teams: UC Davis v. Cal State Fullerton

Records: Aggies 16-26 (1-5); Titans 18-20-1(2-4)

Where: Anderson Family Field - Fullerton, Calif.

When: Saturday at noon, 2 p.m.; Sunday at noon

Who to watch: UC Davis will be looking to jump start its offense this weekend, and there is no better place to start at the top of the order.

Teams: UC Davis vs. Cincinnati

Records: Aggies, 4-8; Bearcats, 2-9

Where: Nippert Stadium - Cincinnati, Ohio

When: Saturday at 11 a.m.

Who to watch: The UC Davis women's lacrosse team has had trouble defending its own goal recently. Sophomore defender Molly Peterson will look to have a key impact when the Aggies play rookie program Cincinnati on Saturday.

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

Christi Raycraft has figured it out.

For the third year in a row, the senior leads the UC Davis women's water polo team (21-8) in goals scored and total points.

This year, for the first time, she leads the Aggies in exclusions drawn and broke the season record previously held by assistant coach Katherine O'Rourke.

She has led her Aggies to an 11-1 conference record, and with a win over Santa Clara this Saturday, UC Davis will have clinched the first seed in the conference championships later this month.

With the team riding an eight-game winning streak and still on a high from a Saturday win over defending league champion Loyola Marymount, Aggie Sports Writer SAMMY BRASCH sat down with the Davis native to discuss everything from her head coach to what makes the team - ranked 10th in the nation - so successful.

Event: Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational

Host: UCLA

Where: Drake Stadium - Los Angeles

When: Today, Friday and Saturday; all day

Who to watch: Senior distance runner Kim Conley will take her record-breaking momentum to Los Angeles after clocking in at a school-record 16:30.22 in the 5,000-meter run at the Stanford Track and Field Invitational on Friday. The previous record of 16:34.87, held by Patty Gray, was established back in 1985.

Did you know? UC Davis' performance at the Stanford Invitational shook up three chapters in the school record books. A day after Conley's record-setter, junior distance runner Kaitlin Gregg made it into fourth place all-time in the same 5,000-meter run category with a 16:44.15 time. In the relays, the Aggie women went 46.94 in the 4x100 to place fifth on the all-time list.

Preview: After a successful record-breaking weekend in Stanford, the Aggies will look to make a mark in Los Angeles this week at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational.

Teams: UC Davis vs. No. 10 Stanford

Records: Aggies, 20-10; Cardinal, 15-9

Where: Sunken Diamond - Stanford, Calif.

When: Today at 6 p.m.

Who to watch: Senior UC Davis outfielder Ryan Royster went 8-for-20 (.400) this past weekend in Washington and hit his Big West Conference-leading seventh home run. The Aggie leadoff man also paces all conference players in runs scored and total bases.

Playing on the road under inclement weather against a Pacific-10 opponent made this past weekend a challenging one for UC Davis baseball. In the end, the Aggies came away satisfied.

"Whenever you go on the road, especially to a place like Washington, and come away with a split, it's a pretty successful weekend," said head coach Rex Peters.

There is a first time for everything.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, this is the first time all season they have owned a record below .500.

UC Davis saw its season record fall to 8-10 after suffering two weekend defeats to Big West Conference foes UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. More significantly, the losses dropped the team's conference record to 1-3.

One month ago, if you were to say the softball team would win only one game all month, somebody might have called you crazy.

One month ago, the team held a winning mark at 15-13 overall and was firing on all cylinders with a dynamic pitching staff and an explosive offense.

But then March happened.

The Aggies lost 11 straight games by an average of 2.9 runs, as the offense went on a slump, producing a .167 batting average during the stretch.

"We have to remain positive," head coach Karen Yoder said. "We need to find a way to come through and drive in those runners in scoring position. I think it will all start coming together for us in the final 16 games of the season."

Finally, after a month of struggling, the Aggies welcome April with a win over Pacific in a three-game conference road series.

Eleventh-year head coach Bill Maze has been saying it all season, and the UC Davis women's tennis team keeps supporting it.

"We are definitely tough, and I think the best team I have ever had in Davis," Maze said.

The Aggies (11-7, 3-3) won two of three matches in their final homestand of the 2008 campaign, downing both Portland and Cal State Fullerton in shutout fashion.

Maybe it was senior Laura Uribe's halfcourt heaves that somehow kept finding the back of the net. Maybe it was the standing room only crowds at the Schaal Aquatics Center. Maybe it was head coach Jamey Wright's clap-spin move with a big smile seconds after even a bigger win.

Whatever it was, the No. 10 UC Davis women's water polo team has figured out how to win consistently.

After defeating all five of their opponents this weekend, including a monstrous victory over rival Loyola Marymount, UC Davis (21-8, 11-1) has won eight in a row and is peaking at the right time.

Men's and women's track and field

If records are meant to be broken, then Kim Conley is doing her job.

A native of Santa Rosa, Calif., Conley set a school record with an impressive time of 16:30.22 in the 5,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational on Friday. Her time broke Patty Gray's record of 16:34.87, set back in 1985.

Among the other Aggie standouts was sophomore Polly Gnepa. After finishing in second place in the 110 high hurdles at the Cal-Nevada Championships last weekend, Gnepa's time of 14.29 was good for third place.

Freshman Thomas Phillips took third-place honors in the 400 hurdles on the men's side of things. Ben Johnson's time of 1:53.57 in the 800 was his best showing of the season.

UC Davis followed up a solid first day of competition with another strong showing Saturday.