UCD roundup: Thursday night football comes to Aggie Stadium
The UC Davis football team is champing at the bit to start its 2012 season, so much so that the opener against Azusa Pacific has been moved up to Thursday, Aug. 30, at Aggie Stadium.
The home opener for the Aggies originally was scheduled to be played on Saturday, Sept. 1, but instead, UCD will play its first-ever home game on a Thursday. The Aggies played the first Thursday game in program history last year, when they traveled to Arizona State for the 2011 season opener.
Start times for the rest of the home games will be announced at a later date and season-ticket information will be available in a few weeks.
UCD men’s tennis
For the second straight match, Toki Sherbakov and Kyle Miller had wins at the top two singles spots for the Aggies on Sunday, but unlike in Saturday’s 9-0 victory over George Fox, they didn’t get much help. Playing at the Lousiana-Pacific Tennis Center, UCD lost 5-2 to the host University of Portland on Sunday.
Still, the Aggies (2-3) showed marked improvement from last season, when they dropped a 7-0 match against the Pilots, who improved to 4-0 this season.
UCD carried over momentum from their victory over George Fox on Saturday night to pressure the Pilots. Portland opened the day by picking up the doubles point after taking two of the three matches, but the Aggies responded by taking two of the first three singles matches. Sherbakov and Chris Aria had a doubles win in the No. 3 position, defeating the team of Daniel Coelho and Justin Guay, 8-6.
Sherbakov then moved over to singles, where he downed Geoff Hernandez, 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 1 position. Miller also got a singles win when he defeated Michel HuKwo, 6-2, 7-5.
On Saturday, at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton, Ore., UCD was unbeaten in doubles and singles action to top George Fox, an NCAA Division III school. All three doubles matches were awarded points, per D-III rules.
In the opening doubles match, Hugo Verdi-Fortin and Miller teamed up to stop the Bruins’ Shawn Aldrich and David Munoz, 8-4. Aggies Alec Haley and Josh Albert won, 8-2, at No. 2, and Sherbakov/Aria posted an 8-3 victory to round out doubles play.
In singles, UCD got wins from Sherbakov at No. 1, followed by Miller, Aria, Albert, George Horowitz at No. 5, and Haley.
UCD women’s tennis
The 64th-ranked Aggies lost to a nonranked opponent for the first time this season, as Fresno State won a 5-2 match on Sunday at the Marya Welch Tennis Center.
It was also the first loss at home for UCD (2-5), while the Bulldogs picked up their first win of the year.
Fresno State started by taking the doubles point with wins in the bottom two positions. Megan Heneghan and Kelly Chui had the only doubles victory for the Aggies, downing Marianne Jodoin and Tanya Murtah, 9-7.
After dropping singles matches in the No. 6 and 3 spots, Lauren Curry posted a win for UCD in the No. 4 position, defeating Melissa McQueen, 6-3, 6-2. Heneghan added a win in the No. 2 spot to keep the Aggies alive, but Tanya Murtagh had the deciding victory for Fresno State.
In another close match, UCD’s Dahra Zamudio battled No. 49 Marianne Jodoin before falling, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
The Aggies now go back out on the road, starting with a match at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
UCD women’s water polo
Junior Jessica Dunn scored two goals for the Aggies in a 7-5 loss to Michigan in the seventh-place game of the Stanford Invitational on Sunday and was one of six UCD scorers in an 8-6 setback to USC earlier in the day.
UCD, ranked 14th nationally, slipped to 2-8 overall, as it has played eight of its games this season against highly ranked squads. The Trojans ranked third in last week’s poll, while the Wolverines were 12th.
Against USC, the Aggies stayed close through the first half, trailing just 6-4 at the break. Dunn, senior Alicia Began, sophomore Hannah Curran, senior Carey Faber, freshman Allyson Hansen and freshman Keelia Houston, a Davis High graduate, each had one goal in that contest, while senior goalkeeper Rachel Tatusko posted four saves in the cage.
In the seventh-place matchup, Michigan shut UCD out in the third quarter. The teams were locked in a 4-4 halftime tie. Besides Dunn’s two goals, junior Carmen Eggert and seniors Ariel Feeney and Dakotah Mohr, both former Blue Devils, netted one each. Tatusko tallied six saves, playing all but the final minute of the game.
The Aggies are taking a weekend off from competition, returning to official action on Feb. 19 at Sonoma State.
UCD women’s gymnastics
Sophomore Anna Shumaker scored a career-high 9.850 to tie for the individual vault title while juniors Katie Yamamura and Michelle Ho finished 1-2 on floor exercise to help the Aggies compile a 190.625 team score in a dual meet on Sunday at Haas Pavilion. Host California won the meet with a 193.275 total.
Yamamura, who scored a career-high 9.825 on uneven bars during the meet’s opening rotation, captured the all-around title at 38.375, well ahead of Cal’s Mariesah Pierce at 38.150. The reigning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week also finished third on vault at 9.775, before sticking a winning 9.800 on floor exercise.
Besides Yamamura’s effort, freshman Tiana Montell hit 9.650 and Ho added a 9.550 on bars, but UCD (2-6) counted two misses on that event to open the meet with a 47.200 score. The Aggies recovered to a 48.300 on vault, thanks to Shumaker’s and Yamamura’s marks. Montell and junior Taryn West each scored 9.575 on the event, while freshman Kayla DeFranceso chipped in a 9.525.
UCD gained a full point on the Golden Bears after the third rotation, scoring 48.425 on floor to Cal’s 47.425 on beam. Yamamura delivered her second straight 9.800 routine, just ahead of Ho’s 9.775, and sophomore Madeline Kennedy added a 9.650.
UCD, however, struggled with four falls on balance beam to hand the victory to Cal.
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Posted by Enterprise staff
on Feb 6 2012.
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