Sports briefs: Devils finish 9-1 with a win in DVC finale

In a fitting end to the regular season, the Davis High girls volleyball team played with heart and consistency to knock off a pesky Elk Grove squad in three games.

With the 25-16, 25-22, 25-23 win, the Blue Devils finish Delta Valley Conference with a 9-1 record. At this point, DHS is considering itself the league champion after beating Monterey Trail — which is also 9-1 and handed the Devils their only loss in five sets earlier this season — in three games last week.

“We had a lot on the line (Tuesday),” said Davis coach Julie Crawford. “We had a goal this season to win league and we had to beat Elk Grove to stay at 9-1.

“I was really impressed with my team (Tuesday); we showed a lot of heart. The seniors really came together and led.”

Though it came in a sweep, the victory wasn’t easy.

“Elk Grove is well-coached and they are a great defensive team,” Crawford added. “We had to kind of change up our offense because of that, but we served well and did a good job with serve-receive passing.”

The Blue Devils now get ready for a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff match, but haven’t yet found out when or where. Crawford believes her team has done enough to get a home contest, most likely Tuesday.

UCD men’s golf

Aggie senior Tyler Raber, a DHS graduate, was tied for fourth, just four strokes behind the leader, while Matt Seramin was tied for sixth place to lead UCD on an impressive second day of action at the SCVB Pacific Invitational at the Brookside Country Club in Stockton on Tuesday.

After a two-hour delay due to fog on the course, Raber carded a 67 and was 9-under through 36 hole. Seramin was at 8-under after a 66 in his second round, and Jonny Baxter was tied for 13th after matching his first-round score of 69.

With three Aggies in the top 20, UCD was tied for third with host Pacific at 26-under 550.

Also Tuesday, local Matt Hansen improved on his first-round score by three strokes, finishing at 3-under 69 for the day, while Will Scarlett, a Woodland High grad, showed a two-stroke difference with his second-round 74.

The tournament ends Wednesday with the final round of action.

UCD men’s basketball

Aggie junior Tyler Les, who canned 82 3-pointers last season including a school-record tying eight against San Jose State, was selected as No. 35 on CBSSports.com’s list of the top 50 shooters in NCAA Division I.

Les, a 6-foot-2 guard from Peoria, Ill., ranked 27th among the nation’s shooters in 3-point percentage last season, making 41 percent of his 200 attempts. He also ranked 45th in treys per game, averaging 2.7. Les was just one make shy of the single-season Aggie record.

“I’m proud of Tyler because I know he’s put in a lot of time and effort and hard work,” said UCD coach Jim Les, Tyler’s father. “On a national scale, for that to be recognized, I know he’s appreciative. I think for our program, that’s where we want to go. We want to make UC Davis basketball relevant on a national scale and this is a step, albeit individually.

“Now we want to do it collectively for the accolades that our team can achieve.”

Jeff Goodman, national college basketball columnist for CBSSports.com, said of Tyler Les in the ranking: “His dad could fill it up from downtown back in the day, and now he watches his kid do it. Les made 82-of-200 (41 percent) as 83 percent of his field goals were of the 3-point variety.”

Jim Les, who played seven seasons in the NBA, was known as one of the league’s top shooters during his career. He finished second in the three-point contest at the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.

The Aggies will play the first of two exhibition contests on Thursday, facing UC Santa Cruz at 7 p.m. at The Pavilion.