Sports briefs: DHS boys volleyball team stays close at Roseville

The Davis High boys volleyball team continued its recent trend of going toe-to-toe with quality opponents, this time winning a game in a 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19 loss at Roseville on Wednesday.

Even in defeat, there were certainly bright spots for the Blue Devils as Andre Foster caught coach Julie Crawford’s eye with his smart play.

“Andre is really athletic, but he’s never played volleyball before,” Crawford said. “He’s really starting to understand the game.”

The coach also came away impressed with the consistency of setter Don-Wook Shin.

“The goal right now is just to keep developing,” Crawford said. “We’ve been playing point-for-point with these teams but we just haven’t been able to get much momentum. In that third game, we started to get excited and it showed.”

UCD women’s lacrosse

Despite a hat trick by sophomore Elizabeth Landry, the Aggies never recovered from a run of five unanswered USC goals, falling to the Women of Troy, 12-7, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Wednesday night at Aggie Stadium.

Besides Landry’s three scores, senior Hannah Mirza tallied a goal and an assist to go with team highs of four draw controls and two caused turnovers for UCD (1-3, 0-2). Aggies Courtney Neff, Ellie Delich and Carly Voris also chipped in one goal each.

USC struck first with a goal in the ninth minute but Mirza quickly netted the equalizer.

When the Trojans scored three straight to take a 4-1 edge, UCD once again responded by tying the contest. In that three-goal spurt, Landry hit back-to-back scores in the 16th and 20th minutes, then Delich punched one in with 10:14 left in the first half.

But that was when USC scored five unanswered goals to take a 9-4 advantage in the 37th minute and the Aggies never got closer than three the rest of the way.

Senior defender Tess Alekna led all players with five ground balls for UCD, which plays next on Sunday at Cal (2 p.m.).

UCD football

Nonconference games in September against Northern Arizona University and the University of Nevada have switched dates on the Aggie football schedule.

UCD now heads to Reno on Sept. 7 to face Nevada, then hosts Northern Arizona on Sept. 14 in what will be the first of three consecutive games at Aggies Stadium.

The dates were switched to accommodate the Wolf Pack’s game at Florida State, which was moved from Sept. 21 to Sept. 14.

The Aggies open the season on Aug. 31 at South Dakota and season tickets are now on sale by calling the UCD ticket office at 530-752-AGS1.

UCD track and field

Aggie middle distance standout Katie Fry and sophomore thrower Veronica Smart were named the Big West Track Athlete and Field Athlete of the Week, respectively, after standout performances at Stanford last weekend.

Fry, a sophomore from Lemon Cove, opened her spring season by capturing the 1,500 meters, edging Sydney Gray of Cal across the finish line.

Fry’s time of 4:27.53 was a two-second PR and moved her into No. 7 on UCD’s all-time list.

Smart, from Daly City, was a double-winner at Stanford, getting victories in the hammer throw (47.32 meters) and the shot put (13.72 meters). Her shot put mark was good for fifth best in program history.

The Aggies are back in action on Saturday, hosting the Aggie Open at Woody Wilson Track.

UCD gymnastics

Aggie Katie Yamamura picked up yet another Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week award on Tuesday, the 12th of her career and her second of the season.

The two-time NCAA regional qualifier was recognized after breaking her own school all-around record with a winning 39.325 total in Friday’s home meet with San Jose State.

Yamamura scored 9.775 on vault, a personal-best 9.900 on uneven bars, a 9.800 on balance beam and another career high of 9.850 on floor exercise. She is now just the fourth Aggie to hit 9.90 or better on bars and has scored 39 or better in the all-around eight times, a feat no other UCD gymnast has accomplished more than once.

City softball

Registration for the city of Davis spring softball leagues is now open.

Signups are first-come, first-served, and will close Friday, March 15, or earlier if the leagues fill. League play begins Monday, April 1. Fees for the nine-game season are $510 per men’s team and $471 per coed team. Each team also must pay a $20 fee for ASA registration.

For league nights and more information, contact Lori Conrad at 530-753-7731 or lconrad@cityofdavis.org. Information is also available at www.cityofdavis.org.

River Cats preseason party

The ticket office at Raley Field will open for the season on Sunday and the Sacramento River Cats are celebrating with a preseason party presented by Raley’s and Bel Air, featuring free food, a live band, two photo booths, free stadium tours and balloon artists for children.

At the festivities — which are free and open to the public from noon to 3 p.m. — fans will get an all-access look at Raley Field in advance of this season’s Opening Night, scheduled for Thursday, April 4. Free stadium tours will be available throughout the event, and will include photo opportunities in the clubhouse.

Entertainment for young River Cats fans will include balloon artists, photo booths and bounce houses as well as an appearance by Dinger.

Round Table Pizza will be distributing free pizza samples, while free hot dogs and soda also will be available. Raley’s will provide food samples of different items throughout the concourse area.