Sports

Sports can entertain and excite fans.

Sometimes, they can do more than that.

On Saturday, the UC Davis softball team hosted the Fourth Annual Strike Out Cancer event and raised nearly $500 for the UC Davis Cancer Center. The teams also donned special pink uniforms in honor of the event.

"We appreciate the community and everyone coming out to watch us [Saturday] and support a great cause," said head coach Karen Yoder. "Having UC Riverside take part in Strike Out Cancer is a tribute to the class of their team."

UC Davis (20-30, 5-7) earned their second straight Big West Conference series, defeating UC Riverside (18-27, 4-8) in two of three games.

It was a pair of seniors that led the UC Davis women's lacrosse team through its season, and Senior Day was no different.

Midfielders Katie McGovern and Katie McMahon closed out their regular season careers with three goals each to lead UC Davis over St. Mary's for its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win, 14-13.

"They have made great contributions for four years," said head coach Elaine Jones. "I am happy for both of them for closing out the regular season with a win."

"They are our leaders and they really command respect," said senior goalie Hilary Harkins. "On the field they are complete leaders."

Kaitlin Callan has been rotating in and out of the No. 6 singles spot all season.

For this weekend's Big West Conference Championships, the senior has been penciled in as the clear-cut starter, and on Friday she showed why.

The former La Jolla High School standout defeated senior Audrey Bardot in straight sets, 7-6, 6-0, in the UC Davis women's tennis team's 6-1 road loss to No. 70 Nevada (8-10).

"It was great to see her get the win," said head coach Bill Maze. "She is going to be our No. 6 for the conference championships, so I'm sure that was great for her to get some confidence going into it. It's always good to get a win before the conference championships."

Event: Big West Conference Championships

Where: Tijeras Creek Golf Course - Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

When: Today and Tuesday, all day.

Who to watch: Consistency is key to the Aggies' success, and Ramie Sprinkling has it.

The junior from Camarillo, Calif. leads the Aggies with a 73.0-stroke average per 18 holes, with two fourth-place finishes on the year.

It had been over two years since the UC Davis men's tennis team last faced UC San Diego, but it hadn't been long enough to forget the result.

The Aggies took their revenge on their non-conference opponent, defeating the Tritons 4-3, after losing by the same score in the two teams' last meeting Apr. 21, 2006.

"We haven't had success against San Diego for the last few seasons," said senior No. 3 Justin Garcia. "This win was a great sendoff for our seniors."

The victory concluded the home careers of Garcia, Daniel Elefant and Henri Landes.

The sun wasn't the only thing shining on Woody Wilson Track on Picnic Day.

After a successful overall performance at the rain-drenched event last year, the Aggies shined once again as hosts to the Woody Wilson Classic that featured 600-plus athletes. UC Davis turned in several standout performances Saturday.

Junior Sirena Williams claimed the 100-meter hurdle event with a time of 13.96, breaking the school record that she set last week.

At the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational hosted by UCLA last weekend, the Fresno, Calif. native earned a share of the Big West Conference Women's Track Athlete of the Week award by setting a new school record time of 14.06. Her Saturday performance also broke the Woody Wilson record of 14.00 set by Donica Merriman in 2002.

Event: Big West Conference Championships

Where: Tijeras Creek Golf Course - Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

When: Today and Tuesday, all day

Who to watch: For Sydney Roughton, the sand is running out of her hourglass.

UC Davis senior will be competing in what will potentially be the final tournament of her collegiate career. The Davis native is averaging 77.3 strokes per round this season and has averaged 77.1 strokes in her career.

The Schaal Aquatics Center was packed at 4 p.m. when eight Aggies were scheduled to play the final home women's water polo game of their collegiate careers.

An hour-and-a-half later, the game finally began and not a single person had left their seat. The delay, due to the absence of referees, did not deter anyone from honoring the eight seniors in their final farewell at Schaal.

UC Davis came out like they had been waiting for this game much longer than an hour-and-a-half, letting itspresence be known by tyrannizing the Tigers, 14-5, for the team's 10th straight victory.

Event: U.S. Intercollegiate Championship

Host: Stanford

Where: Stanford Golf Course - Stanford, Calif.

When: Saturday and Sunday, all day

Who to watch: Freshman Austin Graham carded a team-best 4-under-206 at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic on Apr. 7 and 8.

Teams: UC Davis vs. UC San Diego

Records: Aggies, 9-12; Tritons, 9-10

Where: Marya Welch Tennis Center

When: Today at 2 p.m.

Who to watch: Never mind Gatorade to keep cool - Tyler Lee has ice in his veins.

Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Riverside

Records: Aggies 18-29 (3-6); Highlanders 17-25 (3-6)

Where: La Rue Field

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

Who to watch: Junior Deanna Menapace went 3-for-6 in the Aggies' non-conference doubleheader against San Jose State on Wednesday.

Events: Woody Wilson Classic

Host: UC Davis

Where: Woody Wilson Track at Toomey Field

When: Saturday at 10:30 a.m. (field) and 4 p.m. (track)

Who to watch: Sophomore Sirena Williams became the third member of the UC Davis women's track team to receive weekly conference honors this past week.

Teams: UC Davis vs. No. 20 Denver; St. Mary's

Records: Aggies, 5-9 (0-3); Pioneers, 8-5 (1-0); Gaels, 2-12 (0-3)

Where: Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium - Denver, Colo.; Aggie Stadium

When: Today at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.

Who to watch: With six goals in the team's last two road contests, senior midfielder Katie McGovern has 103 career goals. She needs just two more to move up to third on the Aggies' all-time scoring list.