SANTA BARBARA — A day after upsetting fourth-seeded Pacific, the UC Davis women’s water polo team was knocked out in the semifinals of the Big West Conference tournament on Saturday. Tenth-ranked and top-seeded UC Irvine went on to Sunday’s title game with a 15-9 win over the 18th-ranked and fifth-seeded Aggies.

UCD (19-12) will play in the third-place game on Sunday.

Junior center Dakotah Mohr, a DHS graduate, scored a game-high four goals on Friday — including three in the first quarter — to pace the Aggies in an 8-4 win Pacific in the first round.

Mohr got her hat trick in the first five minutes of the game, then added a fourth goal early in the third period to lead all scorers. Sophomore utility Jessica Dunn chipped in two goals within a span of a minute for UCD, while Michelle Hook and Ariel Feeney, another DHS grad, each scored once. Aggie goalkeeper Riane Woods recorded a career-high 15 saves.

UCD never trailed in the contest and held its foes to a 1-for-10 success rate on 6-on-5 chances. After Mohr’s early outburst crafted a 3-0 lead, Bethany Quertermous scored an extra-player goal to cut it to 3-1, then hit a natural goal to reduce the deficit to one early in the second. The Aggies, however, scored the game’s next four goals and took a 7-3 advantage into the fourth period.

Woods was particularly potent in the second frame, tallying six saves.

On Saturday, sophomore Carmen Eggert led UCD with three goals, all in her team’s five-goal second period. Juniors Alicia Began and Carey Faber chipped in two goals each, while Dunn and Hook rounded out the Aggie scoring with one apiece. Woods tallied six saves, including two against UCI 6-on-5 chances and one against a five-meter penalty shot.

The Anteaters converted a pair of extra-man situations early in the second period to establish a 5-1 lead after 11 minutes of play, only to see their lead wither away to a single goal (7-6) by the halftime break.

UCI stretched its edge with a five-goal third quarter, getting two scores from Cortney Collyer. Anteater goalkeeper Lauren Davis also posted two saves against UCD 6-on-5 shots in the second half to help maintain her team’s edge. The Aggies never got closer than four in the final 12 minutes.

UCD softball

The Aggies had no trouble scoring runs in a doubleheader at UC Riverside, but ended up with a split, dropping a 9-8 contest in the opener before exploding for a 17-5 win on Saturday at the Amy S. Harrison Softball Field.

Elizabeth Santana hit a three-run home run for UCD in the sixth inning of Game 1, putting the Aggies on top 8-6. The Highlanders (11-28, 4-1o Big West) ended up with the win, however, thanks to two runs in the bottom of the inning and a walk-off RBI double from Jessica Vasser in the seventh.

Six players had multi-hit games for the UCD (20-23, 5-9) in the nightcap. Jessica Gonzalez and Kelly Harman, who recorded a career-high six RBIs, got four each. Harman blasted a three-run homer to cap off the scoring for the Aggies in the win. UCD posted a season-high 20 hits in Game 2 and had 26 hits on the day.

The back-and-forth first contest featured two ties and six lead changes. The Aggies started with a run in the top of the first inning, when J.J. Wagoner scored on an illegal pitch. The Highlanders came back with three runs in the bottom half, using an RBI groundout and a two-run double from Brooke Hebenton.

The scoring continued into the second, where both teams plated runs. UCD first took back the lead with three runs on two hits — including Gonzalez’s RBI single — in the top of the inning. Riverside tied the game with a single run in the bottom of the second, making the score 4-4.

After a pair of scoreless frames, the Highlanders went ahead with two runs in the fifth inning, but the lead was short-lived as four Aggie runs in the top of the sixth had them on top 8-6. Santana’s three-run shot, her fourth of the season, highlighted the UCD rally.

But after the late heroics, Jordyn McDonald (7-12) picked up the win for the Highlanders, while Alex Holmes (14-16) took the loss for UCD after surrendering 12 hits and nine runs in 6 1/3 innings.

In Game 2, the Aggies had a blank first inning before exploding for seven runs in the second. Gonzalez and Harman had back-to-back singles early on before a walk loaded the bases. The first run scored on a wild pitch before Wagoner knocked in two more with a single. Holmes and Kelly Schulze also had RBI singles in the inning and an RBI walk for Harman put UCD on top 7-0.

The Highlanders responded by scoring runs in each of the next three innings, cutting the deficit to three. After single runs in the second and third, the Aggies added another in the top of the fourth, thanks to an RBI double by Harman.

UCD then took control in the top of the fifth, thanks to four hits. Schulze had a two-run double, while Harman added another RBI hit to put the Aggies on top 11-5.

UCD tacked on six more in the sixth inning as Santana brought in the first two runs with a double and Schulze knocked her in. Harman then finished her career day with a three-run homer.

Holmes closed out the game in the sixth to end the game with the run rule. The Aggie hurler gave up three hits and no runs in three innings of relief.

The series rubber match is set for Sunday at noon.

UCD women’s tennis

The No. 3-seeded Aggies were upset by sixth-seeded UC Irvine, 4-0, on Friday in a quarterfinal match of the Big West Conference championship at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

UCD, ranked 56th in the nation, had a tough quarterfinal draw, facing the defending Big West champion and 59th-ranked Anteaters (11-12).

With the loss, the Aggies closed out the season with a 17-7 overall record.

Irvine started doubles competition with a win at the No. 1 position, as the team of Hannah Holladay and Rebecca Kwan downed Megan Heneghan and Kelly Chui, 8-3. UCD responded with Ellie Edles and Nicole Koehly posting an 8-4 victory at No. 2 doubles, but the Anteaters managed to come away with the doubles point after Franziska Goettsching and Miranda Young beat Dahra Zamudio and Lauren Curry, 8-4, at No. 3.

Carrying that momentum into singles play, Irvine won the first three matches in straight sets.

Despite ending the season on a sour note, the Aggies had several program firsts in 2011. UCD received the first national ITA ranking in its history, climbing as high as 56, and its final record of 17-7 marks the most wins and highest win percentage it has had since reclassifying to Division I. The Aggies lose two players to graduation, but return the top six singles players next season.

UCD men’s tennis

The Aggies were defeated by Pacific, 4-0, on Friday and bowed out in the first round of the Big West Conference championship at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

UCD’s season ends with a 5-13 overall record, while Pacific improved to 12-10.

“Pacific is a really good team. They were tough and I give them credit for that,” said Aggie head coach Daryl Lee.

The Tigers started by winning the doubles point, taking matches at the No. 2 and 3 positions. The pairing of Artem Gramma and Tomasz Krzyszkowski gave Pacific the first win of the day with an 8-0 defeat of George Horowitz and Jack Horowitz, and Fernando Ristow/Angus Thomsan followed with an 8-3 win over UCD’s Toki Sherbakov and Alec Haley at the No. 2 position to seal the doubles point.

In singles play, Pacific won three matches in straight sets, taking wins in the No. 3-5 positions. Ivan Castro was perfect on the day with a 6-0, 6-0 defeat of Aggie Kyle Miller at the No. 4 position. Alex Golding posted a 6-1, 6-3 win over UCD’s Chris Aria at No. 5 before Ristow had the deciding match when he beat Coates, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 3.

UCD women’s lacrosse

Senior midfielder Gina Hoffmire earned a spot on the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first team, while senior attacker Christina Corsa and junior midfielder Vannessa Jamison made the second team, according to conference officials. This is the second such honor for both Hoffmire and Jamison and the first for Corsa.

Hoffmire, a Marin Catholic alum and Corte Madera native, led all MPSF players during the regular season with 53 goals and 70 points. As of last week, she ranked seventh among Division I players in the country at 3.53 goals per game.

Hoffmire, who finished her career as the program’s No. 2 all-time career scorer with 143 goals, became the third player in school history to record back-to-back seasons of 50 or more goals.

Corsa, who attended Monte Vista, finished third in the conference in both goals per game (2.71) and points per game (4.50). With a career-high 38 goals, she lifted her UCD total to 112, good enough for fourth in school history. She also became the school’s all-time career assist leader at 80, having already tied the Aggie benchmarks for a season (29 in 2009) and game (six on Feb. 25).

A Poway High grad, Jamison led the MPSF with 2.71 ground balls per game (38 total) and ranked among the league leaders with 15 assists. She also scored a career-high 15 goals and won 27 draw controls, while leading UCD with 16 caused turnovers.

The Aggies finished 10-5 overall and 2-4 in MPSF play. They took fifth in the conference.

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UCD’s Dakota Mohr, left, looks to score during a game earlier this season. The Davis High grad scored four goals on Friday to lead the Aggies past Pacific and into the Big West semifinals. UCD lost to UC Irvine, 15-9, in the semis. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise file photo

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