Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara; Cal Poly

Records: Aggies, 10-12 (2-7); Gauchos, 9-11 (5-4); Mustangs 13-7 (8-1)

Where: The Pavilion

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

Who to watch: Junior setter Carson Lowden has paced the UC Davis women’s volleyball team with 622 assists on the year, which is good for seventh in the Big West Conference.

In her first season as a starter for the Aggies, the Yuba City, Calif. native has quietly led the club with 8.64 assists per game. She’s also chipped in with 13 aces and 40 kills.

Did you know? If history is any indication of how the Aggies will fare this weekend, it could be as stormy as the Halloween weather.

UC Santa Barbara is 10-0 all-time against UC Davis, recording its most recent victory in an Oct. 4 sweep at the Thunderdome.

Cal Poly is 7-1 all-time against the Aggies, having won each of the past seven matchups.

Preview: After being swept at Long Beach State, the Aggies have returned to Davis with their focus on the practice floor.

“Our players have approached practice with a good focus over the last few days,” head coach Jamie Holmes said. “They’ve been pushing each other and trying to get better at some things.

“Last week’s match was a wake-up call that practice is important. Putting your blue shirts on and getting to work is important. They have goals that they want to accomplish, which is exciting. They look at this upcoming weekend as a chance to get a ‘W,’ and they’re approaching the week of practice with that in mind.”

It won’t be easy for the Aggies, as they square off against the heavy-hitting Gauchos for the first of two tough conference games this weekend on Halloween night.

The Gauchos are led by senior libero Leigh Stephenson, whose average of 3.99 digs per game is good for third in the conference. Defensively, middle blocker Kasey Kipp leads her team with 82 blocks – only 10 behind the conference leader.

UC Davis’ other weekend opponent, Cal Poly, sits in first place in the Big West. The Mustangs have won eight of their past nine.

Senior outside hitter Renee Ibekwe is averaging 3.85 kills per game for the Aggies.

– Matt Miller

Teams: UC Davis at Nevada; Washington State

Where: Lombardi Pool – Reno, Calif.

When: Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

Who to watch: Sophomore Linda Hermann is leading the Aggies into Reno.

The sophomore is already heating up the pool this season, having won events at both the UC Santa Cruz dual and the Pacific Invitational.

The Solano Beach, Calif. won the 100-yard free style in 53.72 in Santa Cruz on Saturday, and made her mark at Pacific by winning the 500-yard free in 5:02.42.

The Pacific Invitational was a good warm-up for Hermann, as she edged out two Washington State swimmers who will be back in the pool against the Aggies on Saturday.

“Linda consistently produces,” said women’s head coach Barbara Jahn. “She’s one of the girls that have upped the ante with work ethic and attendance and that’s good. Really good.”

Did you know? Hermann won three straight San Diego Section Division I titles in the 200 free at Torrey Pines High School. She is also fluent in German.

Preview: Coming off of a strong showing at UC Santa Cruz, the UC Davis women travel to Reno to face two-time Western Athletic Conference Champion Nevada as well as the Washington State Cougars.

This will be the second time the three teams have met this season. They faced each other at the Pacific Invitational, in which the Aggies only participated in the first day of the two-day meet.

Meanwhile, Washington State came away with the win. Falling just behind the Cougars was the Wolf Pack to claim second.

Both the Aggies and Cougars will be putting their best lineups forward on Saturday, as racing at Nevada’s pool can be challenging.

“There’s definitely a home pool advantage, but Washington will also be experiencing what we do.… The altitude plays a big role, not to mention it’s an indoor pool and they bring their band – their whole band.”

Despite the home pool advantage, the Aggies look to plan their races accordingly.

“We’ll have to consider strategy, but also look for a lot of close races,” Jahn said.

–Andrea Gutierrez

Teams: UC Davis at Pacific

Records: Aggies, 7-6-3 (2-4-1); Tigers, 9-7-1 (3-3-1)

Where: Stagg Memorial Stadium – Stockton

When: Sunday at noon

Who to watch: Danielle Contro and Molly Scott have spent the better part of a decade as teammates.

This weekend, their time will come to an end.

The UC Davis seniors who were high school teammates at St. Francis High will be playing in the final game of their careers in Sunday’s season finale.

Did you know? The last time UC Davis ended its season at Pacific, it walked away with a 1-0 win in 2006.

Preview: The Aggies may not be in the Big West Conference playoff hunt, but they have plenty to play for on Sunday in Stockton.

With a win or tie, the program will finish the year with a winning record for the first time since 2002. It can also complete the senior sendoff it began last week at Aggie Soccer Stadium.

At Senior Day, junior Marisa Hoge scored in the 30th minute and sophomore Sarah Peters posted her fourth shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over Cal Poly. The win concluded the home careers of Contro, Scott, Gabina Bohlman, Stephanie Schmidt and Brianna Tsui.

It was also the Aggies’ first victory over the Mustangs since the two teams began playing annually in 2004.

Pacific will honor lone senior Laura King before the game for the team’s Senior Day. King, a midfielder out of Livermore High, leads the team with 47 shots and is tied for fourth with six points.

Kristina Wavomba leads all Tigers (5-2-0 at home) with seven goals and 15 points. In their most recent home game, they fell to Cal Poly 2-0 on Oct. 24.

UC Davis was won three of its last four games against Pacific.

–Michael Gehlken

Event: Big West Conference Championships

Where: UCR Agricultural Operations Course – Riverside, Calif

When: Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Who to watch: Patrick Parsel was the top UC Davis finisher at the Big West Championships last year, placing 20th.

He is looking for much more this time around.

“This is one of my last cross country races in an Aggie uniform,” said Parsel. “I’m looking to stick my nose in it from the start and battle to the end.”

Called “Rocket Pop” by his teammates, Parsel has raced four times this season, leading the way for the Aggies in two of those races – including his win at the season-opening Aggie Open.

Did you know? Last year the men finished a disappointing sixth at the Big West Championships, yet were the third-best Big West team at the Western Regionals two weeks later. This time, the Aggies enter the championships ranked third.

Preview: Though it’s not the last – nor largest – remaining meet on the schedule, the Big West Championships is arguably the most important.

And the Aggies are ready to roll.

“We’re fit,” said senior captain K.C. Cody. “It’s just a matter of having confidence in that fitness and the toughness to translate it into results.”

Specifically, the Aggies are looking for their efforts to result in a top-two finish.

“We’d like to be in the mix,” said head coach Drew Wartenburg. “Cal Poly would have to be the favorite … but we’ve talked about finishing no worse than second.”

To do so, they’ll have to edge past UC Santa Barbara, who narrowly beat the Aggies two weeks ago in Indiana.

“I want to have no regrets when I cross the finish line,” said Parsel. “It will be a matter of embracing the pain just a bit longer than our competitors.”

– Alex Wolf-Root

Teams: No. 11 UC Davis vs. No. 6 Loyola Marymount

Records: Aggies, 7-10 (6-2); Lions 13-8 (4-0)

When: Saturday at noon

Where: Schaal Aquatics Center

Who to watch: Senior captain Grant Muenter is doing it all for UC Davis.

The pass-first lefty has helped his team with 34 assists, doubling the number by any other Aggie while shattering the old season record of 26.

The Alamo, Calif. native also put away five crucial goals last weekend to help the Aggies to a pair of victories.

Did you know? The Aggies and Lions have not met since last November. LMU stole the spotlight, inching out UC Davis in the Western Water Polo Association title game, 7-6.

The Lions have ended the Aggies’ hopes of winning a WWPA championship in each of the past four seasons.

Preview: After a touch match with No. 2 Stanford, the Aggies are saddled up for what is the biggest game of the year so far.

“The LMU game takes on a life of its own,” head coach Steve Doten said. “It’s a conference game, and we’ve had some great battles against them over the years. All of our guys are looking forward to that.”

The midday matchup is poised to be a great one, as the UC Davis-LMU rivalry is the conference’s most heated rivalry. It’s also arguably one of the biggest rivalries in all of water polo.

LMU has improved greatly since last year, thanks mostly to the addition of two Lithuanian national team players who currently lead the team in scoring.

The Lions have notched big wins over No. 9 Long Beach and No. 7 San Diego, and took unbeaten No. 1 USC to triple overtime earlier this season.

“We have our work cut out for us against LMU,” Muenter said, “but I know everyone is really excited for this game.”

– Sammy Brasch

Teams: No. 8 UC Davis at Cal Poly

Records: Aggies, 12-2-3 (4-1-3); Mustangs, 8-4-4 (3-2-2)

Where: Alex G. Spanos Stadium – San Luis Obispo, Calif.

When: Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Who to watch: The last goal that senior midfielder Sule Anibaba scored came in a 2-0 victory over Cal Poly at home on Oct. 2.

Another score from Anibaba could help the Aggies prevail over the third-place Mustangs for the second time this season.

The Davis High graduate has four goals and two assists overall.

Did you know? In Cal Poly’s Oct. 17 matchup at home against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, the Mustang faithful showed up in bunches. Alex G. Spanos Stadium held over 11,075 people for the contest.

Preview: After completing their second 1-1 tie against No. 20 UC Irvine this season on Saturday, UC Davis finds itself in the midst of the season’s homestretch.

With only two matches left before a potential postseason run, the Aggies first face Cal Poly, who has received votes in multiple national polls, before closing out the regular season against No. 13 UC Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos lead the Big West Conference with 16 points. The Aggies are a very close second (15 points), while the Mustangs round out the top three (11 points).

UC Davis’ test in San Luis Obispo will be a tough one.

“Cal Poly has a very good fan following and their coach has done a good job of incorporating the community,” head coach Dwayne Shaffer said. “That kind of stuff happens when you’re winning. We know their personnel and the style of soccer that they play. We can adjust a little on our team defense and hopefully find some areas we can exploit.

“At this point of the season every team is so good that there really aren’t too many areas to exploit. It’s more of individuals on our team continuing to step up and make some plays.”

A win against Cal Poly could help propel UC Davis to a regular season Big West title, as well as the opportunity to host all games in the Big West Tournament at the culmination of the season.

Recently, the Aggies have been led by the play of senior forward Dylan Curtis, who has scored a goal in each of the past three matches.

Senior midfielder Julian Alvarez paces the Mustangs offense. The Santa Cruz, Calif. native has four goals and four assists this season.

–Max Rosenblum

Men’s basketball

The UC Davis men’s basketball team is picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll and seventh in the media poll. Cal State Northridge is the preseason favorite in both polls.

UC Davis received 28 points in the coaches’ poll, finishing above Cal Poly, UC Irvine, Long Beach State and UC Riverside. The order was the same in the media poll with the exception of Long Beach State and UC Irvine, who placed above the Aggies. UC Santa Barbara, Pacific and Cal State Fullerton occupied second through fifth, respectively, in both polls.

Women’s basketball

The UC Davis women’s basketball team, coming off a championship appearance at last year’s Big West Tournament, has been picked to finish third by the league’s head coaches and in a tie for second by the media, according to preseason polls released as part of the conference’s media day on Wednesday at Irvine.

Additionally, junior Haylee Donaghe, an All-Big West Conference second-team selection last season, was named to the 2008-2009 Preseason All-Conference Team selected by media members.

UC Riverside, which was the two-time defending Big West champion before losing to the Aggies in the conference semifinals last season, was picked by both the coaches and media to reclaim the league title. Perennial power UC Santa Barbara, which beat UC Davis in the Big West final to advance to the NCAA Tournament, was voted second by the head coaches and to finish in a tie with UC Davis for second by the media.

Men’s soccer

UC Davis senior Dylan Curtis added to his list of academic achievements on Thursday when the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced that he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team in District 8.

A native of Pleasanton, Calif., Curtis’ first-team honors advance him for consideration on the All-America ballot, which will be announced Nov. 19. Curtis earned the distinction in District 8, which encompasses all NCAA Division I schools on the West Coast.

Women’s golf

Led by a 2-under 69 from sophomore Alice Kim, the UC Davis women’s golf team benefited from three sub-par rounds during Wednesday’s final round of the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, finishing in a tie for 11th.

The Aggies, who sliced eight shots off Tuesday’s score to fire a 4-under 284 on Wednesday, tied with Colorado State in the 18-team standings at 5-over 869. UC Davis was 14th after the first round and improved to 12th after the second before finishing the 54-hole event strong.

Pepperdine dominated the field to post a 41-under team score of 823 and claim top honors over Oklahoma State by 12 shots. Louisville was third at 23-under while host UNLV took fourth at 19-under. Ten teams finished below par.

Kim led a trio of Aggies in the red during the third round. Sophomore Chelsea Stelzmiller followed her 68 on Tuesday with a 71 on Wednesday, tying for seventh at 7-under 209. She birdied her first two holes in the final round and got to 5-under before posting her 1-under score.

Kim tied for 31st with her best 18-hole score of the week, carding four birdies before taking her only bogey on her 17th hole. She posted a three-round total of even-par 216. Sisler also enjoyed a strong last round, picking up birdies on holes 1, 3 and 4 to move to 3 under before ending with 70. Sisler tied for 40th at 2-over 218.

Seniors Brittany Smith and Bryana Gregory also had their best rounds of the tournament with Smith shooting a 2-over 74 and Gregory posting a 77. Smith had two birdies over her final 10 holes while Gregory was just two over on her front nine.

The tournament brings to a close the fall season for UC Davis, which will resume action in February at the San Diego State Invitational.

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