UCD roundup: DHS grads contribute to Aggies’ season-opening pool win

Senior Carmen Eggert scored five goals, while sophomore Keelia Houston, a Davis High graduate, added three goals and five assists to lead the 13th-ranked UC Davis women’s water polo team to a 12-7 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday at Schaal Aquatics Center.

The victory came in the Aggies’ season opener, while the Otters evened their record at 2-2.

Senior Jessica Dunn added two goals, while Erin Schlueter and Hannah Curran each hit one for the locals, who used three different goalies in front of the cage. Starter Riane Woods posted a pair of saves and three steals in the first half, Jillian Wilding guarded the net in the third, then freshman Haley Cameron, another former Blue Devil, stopped five shots — including three on exclusions — in her fourth-quarter collegiate debut.

Eggert scored three of her goals on 6-on-5 chances as UCD had six successful power plays. She netted three total goals in the first quarter and two more in the third. Houston figured on each of the Aggies’ first four goals of the contest. She converted an assist from Dunn to put her team on the board in the opening minute, then distributed assists to Eggert twice and Schlueter once in extending the margin to four.

UCD gymnastics

Senior Katie Yamamura and junior Anna Shumaker finished 1-2 in the individual all-around competition to lead the Aggies to a first-place 193.725 team score on Saturday in a quad meet at Air Force.

UCD (6-5) finished ahead of the host Falcons (193.225), Missouri (193.000) and fourth-place Texas Woman’s University (191.400).

Yamamura scored a 39.050 to capture the all-around title, marking the seventh time she has broken the 39-point plateau in her career. She also tied teammate Michelle Ho for third place on uneven bars at 9.750 and matched Mizzou’s Tori Howard for second on beam with a 9.825 effort. Shumaker scored 38.875 all-around, setting a career high. She was also UC Davis’ top finisher on vault with a 9.800.

Besides another strong score on bars, Ho tied Air Force’s Linnaea Hance for first place on floor with a 9.800. She has now won at least one event in all four meets this season.

The Aggies also enjoyed solid contributions from sophomore Kala DeFrancesco, senior Leah Housman and junior Madeline Kennedy.

UCD swimming and diving

The Aggies ended their dual meet schedule in impressive fashion at the Fresno State Aquatics Center, defeating the host Bulldogs, 195-105, and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival UC Santa Barbara, 180-120, in Saturday’s double-dual.

The victory over UCSB is the program’s first since 2006. UCD won nine individual events throughout the afternoon, and both relays to capture victories against both of its opponents to finish their dual schedule with an 8-2 record.

“This was a very good team effort,” said head coach Barbara Jahn. “We focused more on the final results of each event instead of times.”

UCD indoor track and field

In finishing fifth in the 60-meter dash at the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor on Saturday, sophomore Ashley Marshall set the Aggies’ fourth school record of the two-day event and was one of five UCD athletes to attain top-three all-time marks.

Marshall crossed in 7:51 to break the Aggie record that was set one day earlier by Melanise Chapman, who went 7.59 in the prelims on Friday,

Also on Friday, Chapman broke her own school record in the 200-meter dash, while Sarah Sumpter set a new UCD mark in winning the 5,000.

Chapman led a 1-2 Aggie finish in her heat of the 200, crossing in 24.80 to take sixth overall.

Sumpter took to the track a little later, going wire-to-wire for her win in the top section of the 5K. Her time of 16:28.21 smashed the school record of 16:51.27, set in 2009 by DHS graduate Kaitlin Gregg.

Other strong UCD finishes came from Shanie Landen, who finished fourth (2:10.30) in the 800, and Alycia Cridebring, who was 12th (9:26.13) in the invitational 3,000. Both times were good enough for second on the school’s all-time lists. In addition, Cekarri Nixon’s 56.27 in the invitational 400 was good for fourth place and No. 3 on the Aggie list.

UCD men’s tennis

Eric Steidlmayer earned his first victory as the Aggies’ head coach on Friday in a 7-0 win over Sonoma State at the Mayra Welch Tennis Center. On Saturday, however, UCD opened Big West Conference play with a 5-2 home loss to Pacific.

On Friday, the Aggies (1-2) sweep all three doubles matches, as juniors Parker Kelley and Alec Haley wasted no time in securing their doubles match, 8-1, and senior Toki Sherbakov teamed with freshman Adam Levie to clinch the point with an 8-5 win. Moments later, UCD freshman Brett Bacharach and senior George Horowitz completed their 8-4 triumph.

In singles, Kelley needed only 32 minutes to end his day with a 6-1, 6-0 win, then Bacharach and Kyle Miller each earned 6-4, 6-2 victories to clinch the match. In adding on to their score, the Aggies got a 6-2, 6-0 win from senior Hugo Verdi-Fortin and saw junior Adam Luba defeated Sonoma State’s Nelson Hosley, a DHS graduate.

Against Pacific, UCD took an early lead by taking two of the three doubles matches, but the Tigers (2-1, 1-0) captured five of the six singles encounters.