The UC Davis men’s and women’s swimming teams traveled for their third straight weekend dual, this time heading to Stockton to take on Big West Conference rival Pacific.

The men had a dominant showing once again, as they achieved a 145-point total and then swam exhibition against the Tigers en route to a comfortable 37-point win. Meanwhile, the women suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss, 132-130.

The Aggies combined to win 18 of 28 events, including three of the four relays.

Junior Danny Donnelly led the way for the men, claiming two individual wins in addition to being part of the 200 medley relay team.

Donnelly won the 100-yard backstroke (50.72) and was the winning exhibitioner in the 100 butterfly (50.39). He also swam the leadoff leg in the 200 medley, competing with teammates Scott Weltz, Russ Underwood and Kyle Anderson.

Weltz had a successful day as well, winning three individual events. Those events included beating out ranked Pacific swimmers to claim the top spot in both 500- and 1,000-distance free events (4:33.31 and 9:17.18, respectively) along with the 400 individual medley (4:05.97).

Underwood and Anderson combined to win another three individual events.

Underwood won the 50 and 100 free with times of 21:36 and 47.23, respectively. Anderson went on to end his day by winning the 200 breast in 2:09.45.

Finishing the day on a good note for the men were freshmen Alex Daneke and Derek Baldwin, sophomore Jimmy Fong and senior Alex Arbios, who won the 400 free relay in 3:11.17 in exhibition.

The men’s dual record improved to 7-3 with the victory over the Tigers.

The women’s team, however, suffered a grueling two-point loss despite winning the final event of the day.

“We knew it could be a close meet,” said women’s coach Barbara Jahn, “but that our relays could be the way to beat them.”

Junior Heidi Kucera again won three individual events for her third straight weekend. Individually, Kucera won the 100 breast (1:04.75), 200 breast (2:21.22) and 200 IM (2:06.94).

Kucera also teamed with seniors Emily Medved and Mary Sturempf and sophomore Amanda Holman to place second in the opening 200 medley relay (1:47.22).

The women also put up some quality points in the 200 freestyle, sweeping first through fourth place. Tyler Ring claimed the top spot in 1:55.11 to edge out fellow sophomore Linda Hermann (1:55.39).

Taking third and fourth were freshmen Katelyn Griffin and Buffy Ajimura at 1:56.79 and 156.86, respectively.

Ajimura and Hermann combined with Medved and freshman Kayleigh Foley to win the closing 400 free relay (2:36.19).

Next up for the Aggies is a Saturday dual with Cal State Bakersfield. The teams will hit the water at 1 p.m. at the Schaal Aquatics Center.

ANDREA GUTIERREZ can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

It’s going to take more than one tough loss to shake the confidence of the UC Davis men’s basketball team.

The Aggies won their third straight Big West Conference game on Thursday, and nearly captured their fourth straight on Saturday before a large lead was erased down the stretch by Cal Poly.

For UC Davis, the loss was a heartbreaker, not a deal breaker.

“We have a long way to go – a long way to go,” said coach Gary Stewart. “You’re not going to hang your hat on one game in January. We’ve got a lot of basketball to be played yet. We got to stay in the moment, the next game against Pacific, and move on.“

With a 4-3 league mark, the Aggies sit in a three-way tie for second place in the Big West with Cal State Northridge and Pacific, which comes to the Pavilion on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Thursday – UC Davis 89, UC Santa Barbara 75

Back and forth, up and down the court, a pair of 7-foot-2 centers exchanged blows.

Michael Boone was scoring hook shots and landing rebounds on one end. Greg Somogyi was doing the same on the other.

Finally, midway through the second half, a winded Somogyi was forced to the bench.

“Hey Coach!” a fan yelled to UCSB’s Bob Williams. “Put the big guy back in!”

Williams fired back, “He’s tired, you moron!”

The game had become a battle of attrition, and the Gauchos couldn’t keep up.

UC Davis pushed the tempo and pulled away late from a fatigued UCSB, building a double-digit lead in the second half and never looking back en route to its third straight win, 89-75.

“In our style of offense, we’re running so much,” said Boone, who had 12 points and tied a career high with eight rebounds. “You tend to see a point where the opponent breaks, and that’s usually when we get our separation. They couldn’t run with us. Their shots weren’t falling and ours were, because we are accustomed to playing that style.“

After trailing 61-60 with 11:30 remaining, the Gauchos were just 6-for-17 from the field to close out the game. The Aggies went 10-for-18 over that same span.

Boone was one of six UC Davis players to finish in double figures. Vince Oliver led the team in scoring for the third straight game, going 8-for-14 for 21 points while dishing out a game-high five assists to only one turnover.

The Aggies shot a blistering 56.7 percent from the floor, 52.4 percent from beyond the arc and 90.9 percent from the free throw line.

Chris Devine led UCSB with 27 points and eight rebounds, and Somogyi added 12 points, four boards and two blocks.

Saturday – Cal Poly 77, UC Davis 75

The Aggies let off the gas pedal for nine minutes, effectively putting the brakes on the program’s longest Big West winning streak.

With a 70-54 cushion and 9:09 remaining in regulation, UC Davis let its guard down and Cal Poly’s Chaz Thomas took advantage. The senior guard scored eight of his team’s final nine points to cap a 23-5 Mustang run and deal the Aggies a rough 77-75 loss.

“We let it get away,” Kyle Brucculeri said. “We just let it get away. A big lead and we stopped attacking.“

Thomas scored all 10 of his points in the second half, but none were bigger than the three-pointer he drained with 51 seconds remaining that gave Cal Poly a 76-74 lead.

After both teams swapped a free throw, UC Davis had the final possession with 19 seconds remaining, but a busted play led the Aggies to settle for a desperation three-pointer just before the final buzzer.

“You have to sprint your cuts to initiate the play,” Stewart said. “We jogged into it, so we lost the timing of the play, and the play collapsed and broke down…. But it should not have come down to a one-possession game.“

Joe Harden led UC Davis with 16 points and 11 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. Dominic Calegari added 15 points and Brucculeri tied a season high with four three–pointers to finish with 13.

MICHAEL GEHLKEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Vault? Check. Bars? Check. Beam and floor? Check and check.

The gymnastics home opener was a thriller for Aggie fans – who literally couldn’t stay in their seats – as they saw UC Davis win all four individual events and five overall counting all-around in a dominating 191.050 to 187.175 win over Air Force.

“It was great for us to break the 191 barrier,” said senior co-captain Adee Schoffman. “We are constantly improving every meet which will help us in the rankings.”

Though not quite up to her lofty expectations, Schoffman had a solid night, scoring on vault (9.525), bars (9.525.) and floor (9.400).

“I didn’t have my best performance,” said Schoffman. “I was surprised to outscore my floor score on bars. I felt strong on bars. I still have a lot of things I need to fix on all three events, but it’s still early in the season.”

The Aggies started the night on vault, where junior Michelle Bobonski scored a season’s high 9.750 for the win. She was followed by junior Tanya Ho who scored 9.725 for second.

“Michelle Bobonski was back in vaulting for us last night,” said coach John Lavallee. “She had been a little dinged up so we used her very cautiously the last couple weeks, but she came back with a big vault for us.”

On bars, the Aggies second event of the night, Ho scored a career-high 9.875 to take the win. Second place went to junior Lida Gehlan (9.775), who also scored on the vault.

The beam, UC Davis’ weakest event just two weeks ago, saw the highest score (47.875) of any event, as the Aggies swept the top five spots. Ho (9.650) and junior Eve Hui (9.625) took the top two spots, and freshman Erika Van Dyke placed third (9.600) in her first meet at the Pavilion.

“As it was my first time in the beam line-up,” Van Dyke said. “I felt like I did my best to represent the Aggies and stick my routine. There are always things I can improve upon in the future. However, sticking seven for seven routines as a team was exciting. We all went out there and did what we’ve practiced in the gym.”

The final event for the Aggies, as is always the case at home, was the floor. Senior co-captain Andi Dolinsky continued to improve on her season’s best with a 9.750 for the win, and was followed by freshmen Jennifer Mueller (9.700) in third and Van Dyke (9.650) in fourth.

Dolinsky’s win was even more impressive, as she had to rebound from a fall on bars shortly before.

“I was bummed about my fall on bars,” Dolinsky said, “but you just learn to put it behind you and move on to the next event. Everything didn’t go our way, but we were focused and willing to fight to stay on our feet and that’s what made us able to go up in our scores.”

Sophomore Staci Nicolini also turned in a fine performance, scoring on vault (9.400), bars (9.000) and beam (9.525), as did freshman Chantel Hibbard, who placed third on bars with a score of 9.700.

After the meet, the victorious Aggies signed posters for their fans, as they soaked in their first conference win of the season at their first home meet of the year.

“It was amazing to compete at home for the first time,” Van Dyke said. “Having the entire crowd stand and cheer as we performed our floor routines was a new experience for me, and it felt great to be an Aggie.”

ALEX WOLF-ROOT can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Gary Stewart remembers the girl he had a crush on when he was 13 years old. And he doesn’t want to talk about her.

“It matters not to me. I don’t focus on that at all,” said the UC Davis men’s basketball coach. “If I’m still worried about a girl I liked when I was 13, I’ve got some problems.“

For Stewart and the Aggies, that girl has been the Pacific Tigers. For a long, long time.

The year was 1940.

We were in the middle of World War II. Gas cost 18 cents a gallon. Chuck Norris was born. Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. John McCain was only four years old (and, somehow, has managed to age 105 years since).

A lot has changed in the past 68 years, but for the UC Davis men’s basketball program, one thing has remained constant: the Aggies haven’t beat Pacific.

Since UC Davis earned a 41-27 win over Pacific late in the 1939-1940 season, the Aggies have been handed 45 consecutive defeats by the Tigers.

Forty-five losses. In a row. Over a span of seven decades. How does that happen?

“Pacific ought to beat Davis if you’ve got full scholarships and you’re Division I and you’re playing a non-scholarship, Division II program,” said Stewart, whose Aggies (9-11, 4-3) host the Tigers (11-7, 4-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m. “I throw all that out the window. I couldn’t even spell Stockton those years ago.“

The Aggies are competing in their second Division I season.

Over the course of the 45-game skid, UC Davis has lost to Pacific by 20-plus points more times (15) than it has by 10 points or less (12). The Aggies have been blown out by more than 30 (six times) nearly as often as they’ve managed to keep things within two possessions (seven times).

It’s those two-possession defeats that hurt the most. Who can forget that pair of two-point losses during the 1945-1946 season? And the time the Aggies stole defeat from the jaws of victory by a single point a season later? Such a heartbreaker.

The near victories aren’t limited to the 1940s, though; in fact, the Aggies beat the Tigers during the 1961-1962 season – according to UC Davis records, that is.

Too bad that didn’t actually happen; it’s just a misprint in the media guide. In reality, the Aggies played the Tigers four times between 1961 and 1962, losing all four – by a combined 100 points. Oh well.

UC Davis came within five points of knocking off Pacific at home last season before traveling to Stockton to get blown out by 45 points – the worst defeat in series history.

“Obviously, it’s a pretty huge rivalry, and to not have beaten them in so many years, it’s pretty astounding,“ said junior center Dominic Calegari. “In the past couple of years, they haven’t been that much better than us, and to lose by 40-something at their place last year was pretty ridiculous. Going up against them this year is going to be a lot of fun.“

There’s little reason to think the Aggies can’t start having some fun playing the Tigers this time around.

The important thing to remember is this UC Davis team has only inherited a 45-game losing streak; it hasn’t created it. It’s only accounted for a handful of those defeats, and its coach wasn’t even born when the streak began.

To end the 68-year burden, UC Davis only needs to think about one thing: the 2008-2009 Pacific Tigers.

“We’ll see what happens on Saturday,” Stewart said. “That’s the most meaningful thing. What happened in the past – you stay in the moment. We’re going to play Pacific on Saturday. The past doesn’t matter. What are they going to do? Bring in their resume? Hand it to the scorer’s table? That doesn’t buy you anything.“

Pacific might be the hardest team in the Big West Conference to get a read on this season.

The Tigers have wins over quality teams like Nevada and Big West preseason favorite Cal State Northridge, but lost to last-place Cal Poly by 16 points on Thursday.

The Aggies also had problems with Cal Poly, letting a 70-54 lead with 9:09 to play turn into a 77-75 loss on Saturday. The defeat snapped a three-game conference winning streak for UC Davis – its longest since joining the Big West.

UC Davis‘ game on Saturday is a chance to stop its most recent loss from turning into a losing streak. The fact it’ll be played against a team it hasn’t beaten in 68 years isn’t the problem.

After all, the Aggies aren’t thinking about her any more.

“I don’t spend any energy thinking about that girl that I liked when I was 13,” Stewart said. “If I’m thinking back about that, I’m missing out on a great tomorrow.“

ADAM LOBERSTEIN doesn’t think about that girl he liked when he was 13, either. He can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Men’s tennis

UC Davis will have to wait another week before opening its spring season as the Aggies‘ two matches scheduled for Saturday were postponed as a result of an unsettled weather forecast. Both matches, however, have been rescheduled for later in the season.

Initially, the Aggies were scheduled to face Santa Clara and UC Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon in Santa Clara. UC Davis will instead take on SCU Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. in Santa Clara. The UCSC match will now be played Mar. 7 at 1 p.m. in Davis.

The modified schedule means UC Davis will open its season Friday at Portland.

Women’s tennis

Thursday’s women’s tennis match scheduled between UC Davis and No. 5 Stanford was postponed due to inclement weather. The contest has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford.

The Aggies didn’t have a problem with the weather on Saturday, but they did have their share of troubles with Arizona.

UC Davis suffered its first loss of the season when it was defeated by Arizona, 7-0, at the Robson Tennis Center in Tucson. The Wildcats opened play by claiming the doubles point before sweeping through singles. The loss drops UC Davis to 2-1 while Arizona won its season opener.

In doubles, the Wildcats claimed victories at No. 2 and No. 3 to clinch the point. With the point in hand, the remaining match at No. l featuring Randi Schuler and Desiree Stone was decided in a tiebreaker. The Aggie duo prevailed over Natasha Marks and Claire Rietsch, 6-5 (6), in what turned out to be the lone win of the day for UC Davis. All of the singles matches were decided in straight sets.

Aggie Digest is compiled by the California Aggie sports staff with briefs from the UC Davis athletics website, ucdavisaggies.com.