Senior Christi Raycraft and junior Lindsay Kiyama each posted hat tricks while sophomore Casey Hines recorded six saves in net to lead eighth-ranked UC Davis to a 9-8 upset over fifth-ranked and fourth-seeded San Diego State in the first-round game of the National Collegiate Water Polo Championship at Avery Aquatic Center Friday.

The Aggies post their 14th-straight win, improving to a school-record 27-8 overall. The Aztecs dip to 29-7 for the season. UC Davis will face undefeated UCLA in Saturday's semifinal game at 4 p.m.

Sophomore Ashley Chandler added two goals and senior attacker Casie Mota scored one to account for the balance of the Aggie offense. For SDSU, Jenna Schuster had three scores while Danielle Pelke and Ronni Gautschi each notched a pair of goals.

"I knew it would be a tight game, probably a one-goal game," said UC Davis head coach Jamey Wright. "The thing that's difficult when you're drawing up the game plan is how to defend them. When we dropped off a little too much, they canned it [from the outside]. When we were too far out, they'd come in and get an ejection. They were very efficient."

"Casey played an amazing game," he added. "Every save she had was a game-winning play. Then Raycraft played her typical amazing offensive and defensive performance. And I thought Lindsay Kiyama has been on a tear in the last 10 or 15 games in the season. It's a big boost to have such a potent weapon from your fastest player. She had a phenomenal game."

Both teams engaged in a defensive battle through the third eight minutes, with Raycraft and Shuster scoring on 6-on-5 chances midway through the first period. Hines had a save against an Aztec power play while redshirt freshman Rachelle Smith aided with a pair of steals in the final minute of the quarter.

UC Davis then crafted a 3-1 lead early in the second period on an assist and goal by Chandler. The sophomore attacker set up Mota's goal on an extra-man opportunity on the opening possession to put the Aggies up by one. Chandler found an opportune moment at the 6:33 mark, walking the ball into a expanse of open water, then firing a line drive off the hands of SDSU goalie Heather Fenske.

Gautschi hit a skip shot at the 2:20 mark in the second to trim the UC Davis lead to 4-3, then San Diego State had a chance to tie the game but Hines smothered Schuster's two-meter attempt. Raycraft converted Mota's entry pass with 11 seconds left in the half, sending the Aggies to the break with a 5-3 edge.

Both teams again locked horns in a defensive battle, with the only early scoring coming as the result of Becca Ur's drawn five-meter foul. Pelke hit the penalty shot to cut the lead to 5-4. Meanwhile, the Aggies failed to connect on their first five shots in the period, then had two entry passes picked off by the Aztec defense. But Hines again protected UC Davis' lead with two key saves down the stretch. Chandler broke the third-quarter scoring seal for UC Davis, completing her hat trick on a bar-in shot from the left side, bringing the tally to 6-4 in favor of the Aggies.

UC Davis extended its lead to three goals on two different occasions, first on Raycraft's goal at 3:11 to pushed the margin to 8-5, then on Kiyama's goal at the 1:43 that brought the score to 9-6. However, Gautschi hit her skip shot at 1:19 to cut the lead to two. Then after Hines posted another critical block against Pelke, Schuster converted a Gautschi pass to cut the score to 9-8 with just 21 seconds remaining.

"We knew San Diego State could shoot the ball and we knew their hole sets are aggressive in their moves," said Hines. "We were either going to get kicked out or they would get a good shot off. The whole game, I had to go one possession at a time. Every time I got the ball in my hand, it was one less possession, 30 less seconds, that much closer to the end of the game."

With a one-goal lead and one final possession, Raycraft drew an exclusion at mid-tank with 15 seconds remaining in the game, then sent the free throw to a wide-open Mota, who helped the Aggies kill the final seconds of the game.

This is the second meeting between the Aggies and Aztecs in 2008, and the third time the two teams have meet in a national tournament.

#8 UC Davis (27-8)	1	4	1	3	-	9
#5 San Diego State (29-7)	1	2	1	4	-	8

GOALS - UC Davis: Christi Raycraft 3, Lindsay Kiyama 3, Ashley Chandler 2, Casie Mota 1. SDSU: Jenna Schuster 3, Danielle Pelke 2, Ronni Gautschi 2, Erinn Greenwood 1.

GOALIES - UC Davis: Casey Hines 6 saves, 8 goals against (32:00), SDSU: Heather Fenske 6 saves, 9 goals against (32:00).