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News-in-brief

City Editor
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Senator advances new levels of oversight

Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) is pursuing a performance-based oversight on the state’s tax expenditures. This is an effort to pursue performance measurements of at least $45 billion in tax expenditures, which is over half the expenditures from the state’s tax general fund. Wolk is the chair of the Senate’s Committee on Revenue and Taxation and has been working on legislation for performance based budgeting and obligatory performance measurements of all state expenditures.

This year, Wolk will pursue legislation to require that all future tax expenditures carry specific goals and end dates. Her legislation will also aim to require performance review of every program and require the governor to include a list of tax expenditure and associated costs along with the budget proposal.

The Taxation and Revenue Committee will meet to consider California’s Enterprise Zone program on Mar. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 3191 of the Capitol.

Russell bike path to be under repair

During a storm late last year and damage from an AT&T utility crew’s attempts to replace utility poles, part of the Russell Boulevard bicycle path near Davis was closed off to pedestrians and bicycles.

Although it is currently closed, repairs will begin once weather conditions permit. The Yolo County Planning & Public Works Department received a $139,535 settlement check from AT&T to rebuild the path’s foundation and surface.

AT&T was trying to fix telephone service when equipment damaged the path. The Yolo County bike path along Russell Boulevard begins at the intersection at County Road 96 for 2,000 feet toward Davis. Signs are posted to direct cyclists on Russell Boulevard to reach the other side of the closure.

California consumers gain access to used-vehicle information

Last month, the DMV lifted consumer access restrictions to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System.

People interested in buying used cars can now access a vehicle’s history, using the U.S. Department of Justice’s vehicle-history database. Rep. Mariko Yamada (D-Davis) enacted AB 647, which was sponsored by Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.

Aimed to help California buyers make decisions based on safety, the bill allows states, law enforcement agencies, as well as consumers to verify and exchange data.

The bill aims to curb vehicle theft, salvage fraud, odometer fraud and other crimes.

POOJA KUMAR can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Protestors clash with police in attempt to block I-80

Campus Editor
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NOTE: TO VIEW PHOTO SLIDESHOW, CLICK PHOTO AT RIGHT.

About 300 protestors confronted a blockade of police today in an unsuccessful attempt to march on Interstate 80 in Davis, resulting in one student’s arrest.

Tensions erupted when protestors tried to push past shoulder-to-shoulder lines of 120 officers from 10 law enforcement agencies. Laura Mitchell, a senior sociology-organizational studies major, was arrested on suspicion of inciting a riot and resisting arrest and was dragged from the group of protestors into a law enforcement vehicle. Protestors left the scene after police agreed to cite and release Mitchell instead of taking her to jail.

The protest was part of the March 4 Day of Action, a nationwide series of rallies for K-12 and higher education funding.

Officers in full tactical gear fired pepper balls at the ground in front of the protestors. At one point, police used batons to beat back a throng of students pushing forward. 

Some police had stun guns, but a UC Davis police spokesperson said they were not used by any officers, despite what many students reported hearing and seeing. A California Aggie photographer captured an image of a California Highway Patrol officer pressing a stun gun to a protestor’s neck. A CHP spokesman told The Aggie that no stun guns were fired. 

Protestors encountered three separate lines of police on Old Davis Road and pushed through the first two. At the second line, about 100 yards from the I-80 on-ramp, police began firing pepper balls at the ground. At the last line, Mitchell was arrested and protestors stopped pushing against police.

The day of action began at 11 a.m., when students gathered at the Activities and Recreation Center and began a march around campus. Students marched in protest of fee increases, furloughs, cuts to campus services and the structure of the UC system.

While some students went to the Capitol in Sacramento during this time, many stayed on campus to call awareness to what they believe is a corrupt UC system.

“Even if UC got more funding from the state, they wouldn’t spend it on students,” said Cynthia Degnan, a graduate student in the English department. “They would spend it on privatizing our university.”

Fire alarms were pulled in Storer, Chemistry, Olson, Kerr, Wellman and Hart Halls, as well as at Shields Library, forcing all those inside to evacuate. No suspects have been identified.

“It was a symbolic gesture to show that education cannot continue under these circumstances,” Degan said.

Some students inside the buildings said the false alarms were counterproductive to the message of education.

“It was completely and totally disrespectful that they pulled those alarms,” said Maggie Mello, a senior history major who evacuated Olson Hall. “We pay $100 a day to learn without disruption here, and I have a right to be in class. It was petty and irrational.”

The students marching then moved the MU bus terminal and blocked Unitrans and Yolobus buses in order to communicate the importance of their cause.

“Business cannot go on as usual,” said Sergio Blanco, a senior political science major.

After halting bus services for approximately 30 minutes, the march progressed down Howard Way, stopping at the intersection of Russell Boulevard. Unitrans service was severely affected during this time and after, said Greg Strecker, a third year political science major and Unitrans dispatcher.

“Most of the buses could not get through and ran late,” he said. “I know a lot of people who were late to school. One guy missed his midterm. I agree with a lot of [the protestor’s] ideas, but we are here for an education and we already paid for it.”

Still, those involved were pleased with the way the march was able to rally support and draw attention, said protestor Brian Ramirez-Corona at the intersection of Howard and Russell.

“I’m really proud of our students,” Ramirez-Corona said. “We just got so many people to come out to this intersection, and I think it’s really going to make a statement to the UC regents.”

Students then marched 2.5 miles around the perimeter of central campus to the Interstate 80 on-ramp where the arrest occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. Sheri Atkinson, director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, arrived after Mitchell’s arrest to negotiate her release and stayed after the protestors left to assist Mitchell.

Protestors then returned to campus and marched throughout the library and other lecture halls, where more alarms were pulled. The march moved to the intersection of Anderson and Russell, where approximately 100 students blocked traffic and danced to the beat of drums.

Earlier this morning at UC Berkeley, 100 protestors held a peaceful rally at Sather Gate. Another rally on Sproul Plaza was held at noon.

Approximately 1,000 protestors – along with high school students – marched south for six miles to rally at Oakland City Hall. The march proceeded south to rally in Oakland and later seven blocks were occupied. At 3 p.m., 1,500 people filled Frank Ogawa Plaza.

About 120 protestors were arrested for blocking traffic on Interstate 880 during rush hour, just before 5 p.m. Although police reopened lanes at 5:30 p.m., traffic was already backed up for miles in all directions.

One protestor either fell or jumped from the freeway onto a tree and roadway about 25 feet below. Paramedics took the protestor away.

For more information on today’s march in Davis, read Monday’s Aggie.

JEREMY OGUL contributed to reporting. LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org. POOJA KUMAR can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

UPDATE – March 5, 2010: CHP has confirmed they did not fire any stun guns. Laura Mitchell is a sociology-organizational studies major. Cynthia Degnan’s name was misspelled in the original version of this article.

Women’s Water Polo Preview

Sports Editor
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Event: UC Davis Aggie Shootout

Where: Schaal Aquatics Center – Davis, Calif.

When: Saturday and Sunday, all day

Who to watch: Scoring is only half the story in winning games – the other half is a strong goalie. That is where senior Casey Hines comes in.

The Danville, Calif. native has been an intimidating presence in the goal all season. Hines recorded 29 saves at last weekend’s UC Irvine Anteater Invitational.

Did you know? All nine of the Aggies’ losses this season have come against teams ranked higher than them. The last time UC Davis defeated a team with a higher ranking was in 2008 when the No. 11 Aggies beat the No. 7 San Jose State Spartans.

Preview: The Aggies are coming home for the first time this season.

UC Davis will host the annual Aggie Shootout invitational at Schaal Aquatic Center this weekend. Coach Jamey Wright isn’t putting a huge emphasis on the home field advantage, however.

“I think being at home will make a difference in the first quarter as the girls will come out more fired up,” Wright said. “But eventually it will balance out and come down to the fundamentals.”

UC Davis (7-9) is set to play Sonoma State, Cal State Bakersfield and No. 1 Stanford. The Aggies have already played and beaten Sonoma State and Cal State Bakersfield this season, 14-3 and 20-7 respectively.

Despite the lopsided scores against the two teams, Wright wants to make sure his team takes them seriously.

“These games can be scary if we take them lightly,” Wright said. “We have to be mindful of their strengths.”

The Aggies biggest test will come in their final game of the weekend against the top team in the nation.

The Cardinal (12-1) have blown teams out this year, averaging 13 goals per game.

“It’s cool to play the number one team in the nation at our home pool,” Wright said.

UC Davis is familiar with Stanford as many of the Aggies play on club teams with the Cardinal.

Stanford’s leading scorer, Melissa Seidemann, is the younger sister of Aggie senior Lauren Seidemann, further showing the connections between the two teams.

“We know their players, coaches and what they do,” Wright said. “The problem is, they do everything well.”

Wright said that if his team is going to pull off the upset, it will need to focus on ball control and take smart, conservative shots.

– Jason Alpert

Women’s Tennis Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis at Long Beach State; at UC Riverside

Records: Aggies, 2-6; 49ers, 6-2; Highlanders, 2-5

Where: Rhodes Tennis Center – Long Beach, Calif.; UCR Student Recreation Center – Riverside, Calif.

When: Saturday at 11 a.m.; Sunday at 10 a.m.

Who to Watch: While Herzyl Legaspi has just two singles wins on the season, she has made noticeable improvement in close matches.

She recently dropped a three-set match against Cal Poly on Sunday, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Did you know? Dahra Zamudio is the only Aggie who has yet to lose a singles match against Long Beach State and UC Riverside.

Preview: Each team loss is unfortunate.

Yet at this juncture of the season the losses have much greater ramifications as each one potentially puts the Aggies further away from the Big West Conference picture.

Coach Bill Maze, meanwhile, refuses to stray from his preparatory logic.

“We just stick to our routines and treat every match the same,” Maze said.

At 0-2 in conference play, this strategy has not produced the results he predicted at the start of season.

The Aggies now go on the road to face one of the best teams in the conference. Maze believes that the first matches will set the tone.

“They are the class of the conference,” Maze said. “I think against favored teams you have to win doubles.”

Fortunately for UC Davis, they have two players who have already tasted success against both weekend opponents.

Zamudio defeated her UC Riverside opponent last year in singles play, 6-1 in both sets. She notched a similar victory in her matchup against Long Beach State 6-2, 6-1.

While Desiree Stone fell to her Highlander opponent last season, she did manage to win against Long Beach State in singles play 6-4, 7-5.

“We are glad (Zamudio and Stone) are back,” Maze said. “We’re not intimidated by [our opponents]. We tend to matchup well against them.”

The doubles teams will have to adjust on the fly once more as they shifted groups for the second time in under a month. Maze feels this should be a permanent change for the rest of the year.

After dropping the first two conference matches, the only place for Aggies to go is up.

“We approach it with nothing to lose,” Maze said.

– Marcos Rodriguez

Women’s Lacrosse Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis at Villanova; at Temple; at Manhattan

Records: Aggies, 2-0; Wildcats, 2-0; Owls, 1-1; Jaspers, 0-2

Where: Villanova Stadium – Villanova, Penn.; Geasey Field – Ambler, Penn.; Gaelic Park – Riverdale, N.Y.

When: Thursday at 2:30 p.m., Saturday at 10 a.m., Monday at 7 a.m.

Who to watch: Coach Elaine Jones knew she had one of the deepest freshmen classes of her tenure. Freshman Hannah Mirza is no exception.

The Mill Valley, Calif. native scored four goals in the Aggies 21-11 victory over Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe St. Mary’s. It was Mirza’s second game in college.

“It felt fantastic to score four goals,” Mirza said. “I feel like I can definitely build off this performance.”

Did you know? For most of the team, the long road trip will take them away from home. For redshirted freshman Meghan Olmstead, the trip will be a homecoming. Olmstead hails from New Brunswick, N.J., roughly an hour from all three schools.

Preview: UC Davis is in store for its biggest test yet.

The Aggies (2-0, MPSF 2-0) first road trip will be their longest as they embark on a five-day, three-game swing to the east coast. Jones still expects the same intensity and strength from her team as if it was playing at Aggie Stadium.

“I don’t make excuses for them on the road,” Jones said. “All competitors play their best regardless of where the game is held.”

UC Davis enters the trip undefeated with its two wins coming against California on Feb. 20 and St. Mary’s last weekend.

Jones believes the key to the team’s successes so far this season has been its mental toughness.

“This is probably the most mentally tough team I’ve ever coached,” Jones said. “I’m excited to see what they can do against some very competitive East Coast teams.”

Jones thinks another main reason the Aggies are still undefeated is their team chemistry. She attributes this to the collective leadership on the squad.

“With there being no team captains, there is no finger-pointing on the field,” Jones said. “This allows everyone, including our freshmen, to speak up and have a voice on the team.”

– Jason Alpert

Women’s Basketball Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis vs. Cal State Northridge; Cal State Fullerton

Records: Aggies, 18-9 (10-4); Matadors, 4-22 (2-12); Titans, 13-15 (7-7)

Where: The Pavilion

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

Who to watch: Haylee Donaghe will be playing at the Pavilion for the last time.

The grad student from Atascadero, Calif. has spent six years at UC Davis and has cemented her name as one of the program’s best female basketball players.

While injuries have attempted to sidetrack her playing career, she has persevered.

Despite missing all of last season with a knee injury, she has come roaring back in her final season to lead her team in total steals (63) and rank second in the Big West Conference in steals per game (2.3).

“In terms of my experience at UC Davis,” Donaghe said, “I don’t think I would have wanted to play anywhere else. We travel to other schools and they don’t have the kind of support we do. Every day the Aggie Pack, the Band-Uh! and members of the community are here. I honestly couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Did you know? Cal State Northridge only has two conference wins this season.

Both of the victories have come against the same team – Cal State Fullerton, who the Aggies will play on Saturday.

Preview: If UC Davis had won their last game against UC Riverside, the Aggies would have clinched at least a share of first place heading into the conference tournament.

UC Davis did not beat UC Riverside. As a result, these next two games are as important as ever for the Aggies.

With the Matadors and Titans coming to town, the Aggies must win-out to clinch a share of the regular season conference title.

“We had an opportunity but didn’t take advantage,” said coach Sandy Simpson. “But we’re still in control of our own destiny. We don’t need help from any other teams so we can’t worry about the tournament yet.”

The Aggies beat the Matadors earlier in the year but they fell to the Titans on the road to open conference play.

None of that matters now.

“That’s all water under the bridge now,” Simpson said. “We just need to stick to our game plan of staying aggressive offensively to maintain our momentum at home.”

In addition to claiming a share of the regular season conference title, two wins will also give the Aggies a two-round bye at next week’s Big West Tournament.

– Mark Ling

Track and Field Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis vs. Cal, vs. Fresno St., vs. Stanford, vs. Cal Poly, vs. San Francisco

Where: Cobb Track and Angell Field – Palo Alto, Calif.

When: Saturday, All Day

Who to watch: At the Husky Classic, senior Sirena Williams[cq] managed to break her school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a new time of 8.67, replacing her old time of 8.82.

In addition to being instrumental in the hurdles, Williams also holds school marks for both the 60-meter and the long jump.

Did you know? Two weekends ago the UC Davis women’s track team was able to return from Seattle with five school records set or tied.

The record-setting performance was lead by freshman Melanise Chapman who broke her own school record in the 200-meter with a time of 25.28 and tied the existing record in the 60-meter with a time of 7.81.

Preview: The Stanford meet coming up on Saturday marks a point in the Aggies’ indoor season as they move more towards opening their spring season.

“The outdoor meets are nice because we are able to take a lot more people to compete,” said coach Jon Vochatzer. “Also this meet will give us a chance to adjust our indoor training to the outdoor distances the athletes will be competing in.”

In recent years Cal Poly and San Francisco have joined the annual Quadrangular meet bringing the competitors to a total of six schools.

Men’s distance runner Jonathan Peterson will be competing for the Aggies in the 3,000-meter this weekend. Peterson broke his school record in this event at the UW Invitational with a time of 8:11.52 beating his old school record of 8:13.90.

Seniors Jazz Trice and Polly Gnepa will be competing in the 60-meter sprint and 60-meter hurdles. Both Trice and Gnepa were conference champions last year and are among the top runners in the country according to Vochatzer.

In field events, Igor Seriba was able to capture first place in the triple jump at the UW Invitational with a distance of 49-06.25 and will be competing in the triple jump again at Stanford.

Representing the Aggie women in field events are Tessa Fraser and Ashley Hearn.

At the Husky Classic, Fraser recently tied a decade-old school record held by Jennifer Swanson in the pole vault with a distance of 12-04.0.

Hearn currently holds marks in the school records for both the shot put and weight throw.

– Madeline Weeks

Softball Preview

Sports Editor
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Event: DeMarini Invitational

Teams: UC Davis vs. Oregon State; Loyola Marymount; Indiana; Northwestern; No. 10 Florida

Records: Aggies, (6-7); Beavers, (5-10); Lions, (2-4); Hoosiers, (5-6); Wildcats, (6-8); Gators, (12-1)

Where: Anderson Family Field and South Field – Fullerton, Calif.

When: Friday at 3:45 p.m., 6 p.m.; Saturday at 9 a.m., 3:45 p.m.; Sunday at 9 a.m.

Who to watch: With 11 hits and seven RBI this season, Sarah Axelson continues to lead the Aggie offense.

The senior from Danville, Calif. hit her first homerun of the season against Texas at the Cathedral City Classic last weekend.

“Axelson proved she can hit off the best pitchers in the country,” said coach Karen Yoder. “It shows how hard she’s been working in the off-season and how hard she’s working this season.”

Did you know? UC Davis competed against No. 1 Washington and defending national champion in last weekend’s tournament.

This week it will face two more top-ranked teams (Northwestern is receiving votes) in a total of five scheduled games.

Preview: The first of the weekend’s matchups will be against Oregon State.

The Beavers have also had a challenging schedule this season as they competed in the Cathedral City Classic – the premiere softball tournament in the country, according to Yoder.

There, Oregon State posted one win against Syracuse while suffering losses to Oklahoma, Fordham, Ohio State, and Texas.

The Aggies finished last weekend’s tournament with a 9-1 loss to the top-ranked Huskies.

In that game, freshman hurler Dana Waldusky posted seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

In Yoder’s eyes, this was just one of the positives that proved the Aggies will benefit from their difficult schedule in the long run.

“Anytime you’re challenged it gives you a moment to pause and collect your thoughts,” Yoder said. “[The tournament] created a great environment for us to ultimately bring out the best in our team. It exposed our weaknesses, which is a good thing because that’s the only way to get better.”

– Grace Sprague

Men’s Tennis Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis at Saint Mary’s

Records: Aggies, 4-7; Gaels, 1-9

Where: Timothy Korth Tennis Complex – Moraga, Calif.

When: Saturday at noon

Who to watch: Senior Nic Amaroli has a special role on the team.

He is the only doubles competitor that is not also normally a singles competitor.

“Nic is a very capable doubles player,” said coach Daryl Lee. “He is an important part of the team.”

Did you know: These two teams have faced each other five times throughout the last six years. The Gaels won all five of those contests.

Preview: Saturday contains only one of many contests in the Aggies’ schedule, but this one may be the most important of the season.

With the Aggies in the midst of a five-contest losing streak, they need a win because Saturday’s match is the last until the end of the month due to the quarter coming to an end.

With the five-contest losing streak and the long break ahead, the Aggies face a must-win against the Gaels to gain momentum and brighten their spirits.

“Losing gets frustrating and discouraging,” Lee said. “We are trying to regain the fighting spirit.”

That fighting spirit has seemed to fade away since UC Davis got off to a hot start this season as the Aggies started the season 4-2 before the losing streak began.

Despite all the tough luck the team has had of late, there are still a few areas where the team has improved and others where a bright future lies ahead.

One area in which the Aggies have shown improvement is in doubles play. The duo of Nick Lopez and Hunter Lee won both matches last weekend.

Another pair that has had a good season is Amaroli and Tyler Lee. Coach Lee sees Amaroli as a true leader and a great player.

“[Amaroli] has got good hands at the net,” coach Lee said. “He can be a leader in doubles and really set the standard.”

Another bright spot for UC Davis is freshman Toki Sherbakov, who is 7-3 overall.

“Toki’s will is so strong, he just won’t allow negative emotion to cluster,” Lee said. “He channels that emotion into tennis playing.”

– Zander Wold

Top-10 for Graham

Sports Editor
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The Aggies have faced some extremely tough competition so far in 2010.

“It’s awesome that we get to represent UC Davis against some of the best teams in the country,” said coach Cy Williams, “and playing at this level will be great preparation for when we meet weaker competition in the Great West Tournament.”

Their most recent tournament was no exception.

The Aggies finished 11th out of 14 teams on Tuesday at the USC Collegiate Invitational – a tournament that featured seven teams ranked in the top-20.

UC Davis’ total of 868 was 31 strokes behind tournament winner No. 17 Oregon, but ahead of No. 15 Oregon State and No. 29 San Diego State.

The tournament marked another strong performance by UC Davis junior Austin Graham, who finished tied for eighth.

He shot 3 under-par for the tournament on his way to a second straight top-ten finish. As a result, he ended the tournament seven strokes behind winner Eugene Wong of Oregon, but ahead of both No. 2 Sihwan Kim of Stanford and No. 3 Diego Velasquez of Oregon State.

The San Clemente, Calif. native also tied for the best single round of any Aggie in the tournament with a 3-under 68 on the final day.

“He’s a superstar,” Williams said. “He works harder than many elite level players and he works correctly. He has great practice habits, he had a good plan for the course and he was fun to watch.”

Graham’s teammate, Tyler Raber, had the second-best UC Davis finish as he tied for 33rd at 3-over par.

Raber overcame a rocky start to finish the tournament strong. He followed a 6-over in his first round – which featured a triple bogey on the easiest hole of the course – by going 3-under and even par in his final two rounds.

On the other hand, the Aggies had multiple golfers finish in the bottom-ten for the second straight week.

“We really need to get all five guys going,” Williams said. “We have a few guys who need to clean up their mechanics and improve.”

The Aggies will have plenty of time to practice as they won’t take the course again until Mar. 22 at the Oregon Duck Invitational.

TREVOR CRAMER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Men’s Basketball Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis vs Cal State Northridge; vs. Cal State Fullerton

Records: Aggies, 12-16 (7-7); Matadors, 10-19 (5-9); Titans, 15-12 (8-6)

When: Thursday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 7 p.m.

Where: The Matadome – Northridge, Calif.; Titan Gym – Fullerton, Calif.

Who to watch: Over the past month, the Aggies have gained a voracious rebounder – and he’s a guard.

Todd Lowenthal has been cleaning the glass with regularity ever since a 13-rebound performance against Seattle on Feb. 16.

After averaging 3.3 rebounds per game in 13 contests prior to the matchup against the Redhawks, Lowenthal has grabbed 13, nine, three and nine rebounds in his last four games for an average of 8.5 over the span.

Lowenthal’s success in getting to loose balls has been part of an overall emphasis on team rebounding by coach Gary Stewart.

“Now we’re getting guards to come back and close the boards,” he said.

The Aggies have had a positive rebounding margin in three of their past four games.

Did you know? The Aggies are 1-5 on the road in conference play this year. Both their remaining games are conference road games.

Preview: As March Madness approaches, dozens of teams across the nation dream of being one of the 64 teams invited to the Big Dance.

If the Aggies want to get their chance at the NCAA tournament, they’ll have to first win the Big West Tournament.

Doing that will be much easier if they can win one or both of these final two games of the regular season.

Sunday’s win against UC Riverside allowed UC Davis to climb to fourth place in the Big West conference, just behind Cal State Fullerton (8-6). Seeding in the tournament is important because it determines the number of games a team has to play.

The first and second seeds receive a bye for the first two rounds of the tournament. The third and fourth seed receive a bye on the first day of the event. Because they own the tiebreaker, the Aggies have a chance to finish as high as the third seed if they can finish with the same, or better, record than the Titans. If the Aggies cannot secure the third or fourth seed, they’ll have to win four games in four days to get to the NCAA tournament.

To get the bye, the Aggies need to overcome two opponents who will not go down easy in Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton.

The Matadors have a 5-9 record in-conference, but that number is deceiving. The Matadors are 3-8 this season in games decided by five points or less and are 0-4 in games decided by a single point.

As last year’s Big West champions, the Matadors will be playing hard against the Aggies; they are one of three teams (along with UC Riverside and UC Irvine) trying to avoid a ninth place finish in conference play. The worst team in the conference is not invited to the Big West tournament.

The Titans, after losing to the Aggies 67-63 at the Pavilion earlier this year, have posted a 10-5 record and are 8-3 on their home floor.

– Richard Procter

Gymnastics Preview

Sports Editor
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Teams: UC Davis vs. Sacramento State; Eastern Michigan

Where: The Pavilion

When: Friday at 7 p.m.

Who to watch: Senior Lida Gehlen leads the 1-2-3 UC Davis sweep on bars with a 9.815 Regional Qualifying Score.

No other Mountain Pacific Sports Federation gymnast has scored higher than 9.800 in that event.

This score has bumped the Sun City, Calif. native into a tie for 10th in the West region with Stanford’s Alyssa Brown.

Did you know: According to the Mar. 1 RQS rankings at www.troester.com, UC Davis checks in at No. 41 after defeating Sacramento State in last week’s meet.

The top 36 teams – determined on Mar. 29 – will advance to NCAA regional meets.

Preview: In last week’s triangular meet with Sacramento State and San Jose State, UC Davis hit a season-high road score of 193.750.

The Aggies wedged their way in between the two Western Athletic Conference rivals, edging the Hornets (193.550) but falling to the Spartans (194.550).

Coach John Lavallee said the points were all that mattered, though.

“I always base our performance on meeting our goals for the meet,” Lavallee said. “Our goals are never to set out to win or lose. Had we had that performance and come in third place, we would have been just as satisfied. So getting the win over Sacramento State is a bonus.

“But in the big picture, when it comes to things we can control, we took care of business. We went in, did our job and had another great meet.”

This week, the Aggies will face the Hornets again, the third matchup of the year.

The Aggies know exactly what they want.

“This will be the last time we see [Sacramento State],” said senior Tanya Ho. “We’ve beat them twice already, but we want to make sure we beat them again.”

“I have a feeling Sac State will come into the gym looking for revenge,” Lavallee said. “I would be. If we can raise the bar and have a couple of season-high performances, that could go a long way in securing a top-36 spot in the RQS standings.”

– Grace Sprague

Column: Camp Beat Fullerton

Sports Editor
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Let me lay some history on you to start this off.

Flashback to Mar. 5, 2008. UC Davis and UC Riverside’s women’s basketball teams were in a virtual tie in the Big West Conference standings. Only a head-to-head contest at the Pavilion between the two teams remained on the Aggies’ schedule.

On the line was the coveted No. 2 seed and the two-round bye in the league tournament that came with it.

Celebrated former sports editors Michael Gehlken and Adam Loberstein basically decided people should care that a win over Riverside would put our women’s team two games away from the NCAA Tournament.

At other schools, they said, you actually need to sleep outside the night before if you want to guarantee your admittance to big home games. While that might not be the case at UC Davis just yet, there’s no reason not to show the same enthusiasm here.

So they came up with a plan for Camp Beat Riverside. The third-annual campout (we slept outside before last year’s men’s soccer game against UC Santa Barbara) will take place Friday night in front of the Pavilion. Arrive around 10 p.m.

As for Gehlken and Loberstein’s three-part plan, it goes as follows:

Step 1: Call coach Sandy Simpson.

“Hey Sandy,” Gehlken said. “A bunch of students are camping out in front of the Pavilion on Wednesday before your team’s game against UC Riverside. It’d be cool if you and some of the players showed up to hang out for a bit.”

(They actually showed up. More details to come later.)

Step 2: Bring a foosball table.

“We should really bring a foosball table,” Loberstein said.

If you know Adam at all, you know he thinks foosball can solve pretty much any of the world’s problems.

So he, Gehlken, staff writer Ray Lin and myself carried the table all the way from The Aggie’s office in Lower Freeborn to the Pavilion, stopping randomly in some bike circles to get a couple games in.

Step 3: Wait, they didn’t get that far.

The night was great (exception: that was the night a pipe bomb was found in the Tercero Dorms). The team showed up. They brought pizza from Woodstock’s. We played some foosball. They left. We played some more foosball. Then we woke up and … well, I will let you guess. (Hint: think foosball.)

The Aggies ended up winning that game and eventually advanced to the Big West finals. Unfortunately, an experienced squad from UC Santa Barbara proved to be the Aggies’ match.

History can repeat once again on Friday (not including the conference finals loss, of course).

I’m not saying that everything that happened two years ago will happen again (no pipe bomb, please!), but hey, it could.

There’s no reason you shouldn’t attend.

Say you’re competing in Dodgeball Palooza. You just finished a game, but it’s an all-night affair. You have nowhere to go or nothing to do for an hour.

Now you do. Head on over to the entrance of the Pavilion and hang out with some of the most dedicated Aggie fans on campus.

Say you were already going to the gymnastics meet on Friday. (The Aggies have a tri-meet with Sacramento State and Eastern Michigan that begins at 7 p.m.) When the meet is over and you’re leaving, stop by and show your support.

Whatever your reason is for going, you’ll want to consider staying. That’s if you want to watch a UC Davis team that may make history in nine days. (I refer to the Big West Tournament final scheduled for Saturday Mar. 13).

If UC Davis wins tonight against Cal State Northridge and Saturday against Cal State Fullerton, it will guarantee itself a double bye in the league tournament and put the team TWO games away from the NCAA Tournament.

Did you hear that folks? That’s select company as far as UC Davis is concerned.

The women’s water polo team made the tournament in 2007. The baseball team did it in 2008. The men’s soccer team did it in both years.

That’s it – four teams. The UC Davis women’s basketball team could be the fifth in the school’s Division I, playoff-eligible era.

If for nothing else, come on Friday night to show your support for those die-hard Aggie fans who are hoping to see history play out on Hamilton Court for the last time this season.

MAX ROSENBLUM went off with parentheses in this column, much like Dave Karimi does on Tuesdays. Rosenblum can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Baseball Preview

Sports Editor
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0

Teams: UC Davis vs. Sacramento State

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

Where: Hornet Field – Sacramento, Calif.; Dobbins Stadium

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

Who to watch: Third baseman Paul Politi is turning heads in his first season on the field.

The redshirt-freshman from Los Gatos, Calif. places second on the team with a .478 slugging percentage. His .414 on base percentage ranks third while his .303 batting average is fifth.

Did you know? Yesterday’s game against No. 24 Stanford has been rescheduled for today at Dobbins Stadium. Barring further rain, first pitch will occur at 2 p.m.

Preview: The Aggies are required to play four games against two rivals each of the next four days.

The kicker?

No games will be played at the same location on consecutive days.

After facing Stanford at home today, UC Davis will travel to play Sac State tomorrow, come home to play the Hornets at Dobbins Stadium on Saturday and then go back to Sacramento on Sunday to complete the series.

The Aggies remain unfazed.

“It’s not a big deal to us,” said coach Rex Peters. “We’re only 20 minutes apart so it makes sense to split it up.”

Being so close to each other, UC Davis and Sac State get to keep a pretty close eye on how things are going across The Causeway. Due to this fact, the Aggies believe they know the strengths of the Hornet squad.

“They’re traditionally a good offensive team,” Peters said, “so they’re going to swing the bat and score some runs.”

Combined with Sac State’s offensive prowess, UC Davis believes that the weakness of the Hornets will lead to a lot of scoring.

“They haven’t been as quite as good as they need to be on the mound,” Peters said. “Because of that, I think it’s going to be an offensive series in a lot of ways.”

The only potential roadblock to high offensive output for the Aggies is the weather.

Having games postponed, suspended and cancelled has prevented UC Davis from getting into a groove at the plate.

“This time of year is always sketchy weather-wise,” Peters said. “I think we’ll swing the bats a little better as the season goes on and we find a lineup that works for us.”

Despite the many challenges, the Aggies never need help motivating themselves when they play the Hornets.

“Anytime you play Sac State here at Davis you want to win,” Peters said. “They’re all baseball games but it does mean a little bit more when you beat them.”

– Mark Ling

Aggie Digest

Sports Editor
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0

Women’s golf

No. 25 UC Davis took home a first place finish on Tuesday in Fresno at the Lexus Classic.

The Aggies shot 16 over-par for the tournament, putting them two strokes ahead of second-place San Jose State.

UC Davis’ leading scorer was freshman Amy Simanton, who shot 1 over-par. She finished tied for second place, 3 strokes off the leader Christina Corpus from San Jose State. Simanton shot a 69 in her second round, tied for the best round of the tournament.

UC Davis’ Alice Kim finished fifth at 2 over-par and her teammate Demi Runas finished tied for ninth at 4 over-par. Only one Aggie finished outside of the top-20.

UC Davis will take the course again on March 8 at the Juli Inker Invitational in San Jose against a nationally ranked field.

– Trevor Cramer

Men’s and women’s swimming

UC Davis will send six swimmers to the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas this weekend.

The three-day tournament will begin today and run through Saturday.

Swimming for the Aggies will be Victoria Pichay, Jason Singh, Joe Stitts, Adam Yen, Jeremy Smith, and Zach Hansen.

The event is open to any swimmer who has achieved the qualifying time this season.

– Matt Wang

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