DAVIS, Calif. — The Aggies put up two dominating performances full of career highs and career firsts with wins over Santa Clara and Fresno Pacific in Sunday's Davis Challenge tournament. No. 10 UC Davis defeated Santa Clara 11-4, continuing on to get a 14-5 win over Fresno Pacific in the nightcap at Schaal Aquatics Center.

Although today's high temperature did not rise above 46 degrees Fahrenheit, the Aggies got off to quick starts in both games, putting up the first three goals of the game against Santa Clara, and scoring the first six in the Fresno Pacific match. Sophomore Noelle Wijnbelt led the day's scoring, combining to shoot a perfect eight-for-eight with five goals against the Broncos, and three in the first three minutes of the first quarter against the Sunbirds. 

Wijnbelt tied a single game career high with five goals against Santa Clara, equaling her performance at Long Beach State last season. Getting the ball rolling in Sunday's second game, Wijnbelt put up her three goals between 6:17 and 4:55 in the first period, following senior Audrey Taylor's goal in the first 20 seconds of the match.

Senior captain Cassidy Smithson recorded her second career hat trick with a career-high four goals against Fresno Pacific to total five on the day. Senior Emily Byrne completed a hat trick against the Broncos, and tacked on another goal against the Sunbirds. 

Byrne also recorded a career high five steals against the Broncos, with her first four happening in the first six minutes of the game. Her previous single-game best was three steals dating back to Mar. 3 of last year, when the Aggies traveled to play Harvard. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Noble notched her fourth career start to open play for the Aggies, tying her single-game career high 10 saves with her third game in double digits. Noble made several key saves to hold the Broncos at bay, including two on five meter penalty attempts.

UC Davis had several fresh faces in the water throughout the day, with freshman Leslie Haynes picking up her first career assist against Santa Clara, following it up with an impressive three steals against Fresno Pacific.

In their first showing as Aggies, redshirt freshman Grace Gulsvig found the back of the net on an assist from fellow redshirt freshman Morgan Polterock — both career firsts. To close action at Schaal Aquatics Center, redshirt freshman Rebecca Reynolds scored her first career goal at UC Davis in the final minute of the Fresno Pacific game, with the assist going to Haynes.

The Aggies will kick off a stretch of away games next weekend at the Cal Cup with games against Stanford, Cal, Fresno State, and San Jose State throughout the two-day tournament in Berkeley, Calif.

GOALS: UC DAVIS: Noelle Wijnbelt 5, Emily Byrne 3, McKenna Martin 1, Cassidy Smithson 1, Audrey Taylor 1. SANTA CLARA: Maggie Oys 2, Hailey Eberle 2

SAVES: UC DAVIS: Sophia Noble 10. SANTA CLARA: Lydia Dadd 5, Grace Kavanagh 0.

GOALS: UC DAVIS: Cassidy Smithson 4, Noelle Wijnbelt 3, Chloe Robinson 2, Emily Byrne 1, Audrey Taylor 1, Rebecca Reynolds 1, Julia Hartmann 1, Grace Gulsvig 1. FRESNO PACIFIC: Amy Zaninovich 3, Sam Witt 2.

SAVES: UC DAVIS: Caitlin Golding 6, Cleopatra Constantin 2. FRESNO PACIFIC: Camryn Berra 9, Bailee Poole 2.

ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE
Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 athletics programs.
Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year.
All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs.
To learn more about projects the Marya Welch Initiative is currently funding, like the Marya Welch Initiative on Facebook. Join this groundbreaking program by clicking here, contacting Assistant AD for Leadership Giving and Alumni Engagement Liz Martin at (530) 752-7326 or emartin@ucdavis.edu.

AGGIE EVO
Established during the 2017-18 academic year, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.