UC Davis began its move to Division I almost a full decade ago. UC San Diego passed an initiative in 2007 that granted its student-athletes $500 maximum grants-in-aid, allowing the school to maintain a minimum requirement for remaining in Division II. The Tritons were a Div. III program until 2000, then had run as a non-scholarship D-II until five years ago.
UC Davis women's water polo now competes in the Big West Conference, which has featured at least five Top 20 teams every year. The league will get even stronger next year when perennial Top 10 programs Hawai'i and San Diego State enter the fray. UC San Diego plays in the Western Water Polo Association, an affiliation whose membership ranges from traditional WCC programs like Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara to small Division III schools from around the state. (Note: the NCAA does not break water polo down into divisions.)
UC Davis has played UC San Diego 31 times, most recently at the UCI Invitational last weekend. The Aggies have won 20 of those matchups, including Sunday's 14-6 victory down in Newport Beach. Saturday's Aggie Shootout matchup will be meeting No. 32, and the first since 2007.
But a Div. I school facing one that barely qualified for Div. II? Big West vs. WWPA? A 20-11 series record? Why does this feel like such a heated rivalry?
Take a peek:
UC DAVIS vs. UC SAN DIEGO ALL-TIME SERIES
Feb. 15, 1997 - La Jolla (W, 3-0)
Apr. 26, 1997 - Neutral (L, 2-4)
Mar. 1, 1998 - Neutral (W, 4-3)
Apr. 25, 1998 - Neutral (W, 2-1)
Feb. 12, 1999 - La Jolla (W, 6-2)
Feb. 27, 1999 - Neutral (L-ot, 4-5)
Apr. 11, 1999 - Neutral (W-ot, 7-5)
Apr. 9, 2000 - Neutral (L, 4-5)
Mar. 31, 2001 - Neutral (W-ot, 8-7)
Apr. 28, 2001 - La Jolla (W, 5-4)
Mar. 29, 2002 - Neutral (L, 4-6)
Apr. 7, 2002 - Davis (W, 7-4)
Apr. 27, 2002 - Neutral (L, 5-6)
Feb. 9, 2003 - La Jolla (L, 4-5)
Feb. 23, 2003 - Davis (W, 3-1)
Apr. 5, 2003 - Neutral (W, 6-4)
Apr. 26, 2003 - Neutral (L, 5-6)
Feb. 21, 2004 - Davis (L, 6-7)
Apr. 24, 2004 - Neutral (L, 6-10)
Feb. 6, 2005 - La Jolla (W, 4-3)
Apr. 10, 2005 - Davis (W, 6-5)
Apr. 30, 2005 - Davis (W-sd, 7-6)
Feb. 26, 2006 - Neutral (L, 4-5)
Apr. 8, 2006 - Davis (W, 6-5)
Apr. 1, 2007 - Davis (W, 6-1)
Apr. 28, 2007 - Neutral (W, 7-6)
Mar. 7, 2008 - Neutral (W, 5-4)
Feb. 7, 2009 - La Jolla (W, 10-9)
Mar. 27, 2010 - Neutral (L, 9-10)
Feb. 27, 2011 - Neutral (W, 10-9)
Feb. 26, 2012 - Neutral (W, 14-6)
Twenty of the 31 matchups were settled by a single goal (marked in gold). Four went into overtime, including the 2005 conference semifinal, which ended in sudden victory. And before you pass off the clashes as an artifact from UC Davis' WWPA days, notice that the previous five games were one-goal games. Oh, and consider also that UCSD returned six of the top eight scorers from the team that made the NCAA Championship a year ago.
Head coach Jamey Wright even downplays the recent eight-goal win (the widest margin in series history): "I think they're a much better team than that score indicated. We've never played an eight-goal game with San Diego. Last year, we beat them by one at Irvine only because [Ashley] Chandler was able to slow down that freshmen center who was killing us."
"This will be a tight game. That's my prediction."
Hard to argue with that.
-Mark Honbo, assistant director of athletics communications, will be among those who will confirm Coach Wright's prediction on Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m. out at the Schaal Aquatics Center. UC San Diego will also face Pacific in neutral waters at 10 a.m. that morning.
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