DAVIS, Calif. -- As the summer heat faded and the leaves began to change color, not much was different in terms of success for the UC Davis fall athletic programs, living up to a championship tradition both on the fields of the play and in classrooms and laboratories across the campus in nearly every major field of study.

Academically, the department's 641 student-athletes lived up to the reputation of one of the nation's top public institutions of higher education, posting a combined 3.16 GPA during the fall quarter, paced by the women's cross country program's department-leading 3.48 GPA and men's soccer leading the way with a 3.16 GPA.

In all, 63 student-athletes finished with a perfect 4.0 for the quarter, 248 finished with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and 421 total student-athletes recorded at least a 3.0 in the fall.

In January, 37 fall student athletes earned Big West Conference All-Academic Team honors. Women's cross country, men's soccer, and women's volleyball, all had nine members of their teams named to the list, with six more from women's soccer and four from men's cross country, joining their classmates on this quarter's honor roll. Field hockey senior midfielder Madison Theodore was also one of 12 student-athletes named to the America East All-Academic Team, part of a group that sported a combined 3.91 GPA among the honorees.

Meanwhile, in competition, the Aggies claimed a pair of conference titles in women's cross country (Big West) and men's water polo (Western Water Polo Association), while football and men's water polo also made NCAA Tournament appearances.

That show of strength on the field helped the Aggies rank No. 79 in the nation according to the 2021-22 Learfield Director's Cup Division I standings after the fall – tops among Big West Conference schools (Hawai'I was next at No. 102) and No. 11 among FCS programs.

A brief look back at each of UC Davis' fall championship seasons follows.

FOOTBALL
UC Davis capped an 8-4 season by clinching its second NCAA FCS Playoff berth in four seasons under Head Coach Dan Hawkins, battling South Dakota State (which advanced all the way to the national semifinals) on the road as one of five Big Sky Conference schools to earn a sport in the postseason. The Aggies opened the 2021 campaign with five straight wins -- the program's best start since 2004 -- and won eight of its first nine contests heading into a buzzsaw finish against fellow postseason competitors Eastern Washington and Sacramento State. UC Davis reached as high as No. 4 in the AFCA Coaches poll and No. 6 in the STATS Perform poll during the regular season -- the highest the Aggies have reached in either poll since September of 2019. Postseason honors were plentiful as 12 UC Davis student-athletes earned All-Big Sky Conference honors, including first-team honors for running back Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr., offensive lineman Jake Parks, and defensive back Jordan Perryman, while punter Daniel Whelan was one of 10 semifinalists for FCS Punter of the Year in addition to All-America honors from HERO Sports and STATS Perform. Redshirt freshman Lan Larison, sophomore McCallan Castles, and Perryman, also joined Whelan on the HERO Sports All-America honor roll. Gilliam, Jr., put his name among a short list of Aggie greats, becoming only the third player in school history to rack up 3,000 career rushing yards, joining G.P. Muhammad (3,589) and Preston Jackson (3,325) with 3,435 to finish second on the school's all-time list. Wide receiver Jared Harrell also eclipsed 2,000 yards receiving for his career, becoming only the ninth Aggie to do so in program history and finishing eighth on the all-time list with 2,155. In the stands, UC Davis fans turned out in force, setting a new single-game attendance record with 12,315 visitors for the 68th Causeway Classic -- breaking the previous mark of 11,194 against Cal Poly in 2019 -- and averaging better than 10,000 fans over a five-game home schedule.

MEN'S SOCCER
It came down to the final match of the 2021 regular season, but the UC Davis men's soccer team got it done, as the defending league champions clinched a berth to the Big West Conference Tournament for the 10th consecutive season and made a run to the semifinals (its ninth appearance in the semifinal round) as the No. 5 seed, defeating CSU Bakersfield in the opening round before falling to top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in double overtime by a 1-0 score. The Aggies finished with nine wins overall and a 4-4-1 mark in league play, rebounding from an 0-5 start to run off five consecutive victories by a combined 12-1 score to get back in the race. Sophomore forward Maximilian Arfsten became the second Aggie to be named the league's offensive player of the year, joining All-American Quincy Amarikwa, while senior Robert Mejia was the Big West's midfielder of the year to headline the conference's postseason honor roll, joined on the first team by senior defender Jake Haupt. Junior Max Glasser earned second-team honors, while senior forward Grant Fidler and senior midfielder Andy Velasquez picked up honorable mention awards. Newcomer Tanner Humphrey was named to the all-freshman team to round out the group of honorees.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Posting their best record in six seasons under the direction of third-year head coach Tracy Hamm, the Aggies made a run at a Big West Tournament berth right up to the final weeks of the regular season. UC Davis finished 2021 with a 10-8 overall record and a 5-5 mark in conference play, posting the program's first winning season -- and its first with 10-or-more wins - since wrapping up the 2015 campaign with a 10-7-2 overall record. The Aggies entered conference play on a hot streak, closing out the non-conference portion of thier schedule with five consecutive wins while out-scoring opponents by a combined 13-3 score, and posted wins over regular season champion UC Irvine and runner-up Cal Poly during the conference schedule. Sophomores Leslie Fregoso and Risa Yamada were named to the All-Big West first team, while newcomer Jayde Holley picked up second-team and all-freshman team laurels at the end of the regular season. UC Davis placed two on the all-conference first team in the same season for the first time since 2013, while Holley became the eighth different Aggie to pick up all-freshman team honors as UC Davis had a representative on that squad for the seventh straight year.

MEN'S WATER POLO
After missing out on the entire 2020 season, the UC Davis men's water polo team did not miss a beat in 2021, capping off the fall with one of its most successful seasons to date. The Aggies finished the year with a 19-9 overall record and a 7-1 mark in Western Water Polo Association play, claiming the sixth conference title in school history (and their fourth in the last six years) with three straight wins in front of the home crowd at Schaal Aquatics Center in the league tournament against Biola, Loyola Marymount, and California Baptist. UC Davis finished the 2021 season ranked No. 5 in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, marking the fifth time in the last six years that the program has finished in the top 10 and believed to be the highest the program has reached in the national polls since 2001, besting a No. 6 ranking during the 2006 regular season. A standout season was made even moreso when the Aggies made their eighth all-time appearance at the NCAA Tournament hosted by UCLA, advancing to the semifinals after an opening round win over Long Beach State in overtime before falling to top-ranked USC. UC Davis finished tied for third in the nation for the second time in program history and the first since the 1996 squad fell to the Bruins, but defeated UMass in the third-place match. Powering the season push, senior Nir Gross was named a second-team All-American for the second time in his career, picking up WWPA Player of the Year and NCAA All-Tournament Team honors, while teammates Logan Anderson and Aaron Wilson were named honorable mention All-Americans. The three awards gave UC Davis a trio of All-Americans in the same season for the first time since 2015, while Gross became the sixth Aggie since 1999 to pick up multiple All-America honors in a career. Head Coach Daniel Leyson was named the WWPA Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career, while Wilson (second team), Anderson (second team), and Aleix Aznar Beltran (honorable mention), joined Gross on the WWPA honor roll. Aznar Beltran also earned a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament team along with Gross.

FIELD HOCKEY
UC Davis wrapped up the 2021 season with six wins overall -- including a run of three straight thanks to victories over Saint Louis, Ohio University, and Bellarmine in early September -- and added a "Senior Day" triumph over rival Stanford to one-goal victories against Brown and New Hampshire during the regular season. Senior midfielder Madison Theodore became the first Aggie to be named to multiple NFHCA all-region teams in a career, picking up All-West Region second team honors in 2021 after leading the team with five goals and 14 points overall while taking 51 shots. She also added her third All-America East Conference honor to her resume in 2021, joined on the league's postseason honor roll by freshman Caroline Stutte, who picked up All-Rookie Team laurels.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
A youthful UC Davis squad that featured 13 underclassmen for the 2021 campaign wrapped up the season with 11 wins overall and seven in the always difficult Big West Conference, battling a schedule that featured matches against nationally ranked foes Florida and UCLA, along with NCAA Tournament qualifiers Utah Valley and Hawai'i. Junior middle blocker Josephine Ough and freshman opposite Olivia Utterback were each named to the All-Big West first team at the end of the year, with Utterback also picking up all-freshman team honors from the league's head coaches. Ough became the first two-time All-Big West selection for the Aggies since teammate Mahalia White did so in 2017 and 2019, and became the sixth overall in the history of the program to accomplish the feat.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Racing on the familiar twists and turns of the Wildhorse Golf Club in Davis, the UC Davis women's team dominated the field en route to the program's third Big West Conference title, joining trophies in 2011 and 2014. Hosting the league championship meet for the first since since becoming a full-fledged member of the league in 2007-08, the Aggies scored 26 points to easily out-pace second-place Cal State Fullerton (60 points), placing all five scoring runners in the top 10 and all seven competitors -- a group that featured three freshman and five underclassmen overall -- on the women's side inside the top 20. Sophomore Sierra Atkins, a two-time Big West Athlete of the Week award winner, finished second overall in a time of 20:21.3, followed by freshman Brianna Weidler in third (20:38.6), freshman Hope Bergmark in fifth (20:43.1), sophomore Chloe Arriaga in sixth (20:45.5), and junior Eva Goodisson in 10th (20:52.2) -- all earning All-Big West honors by virtue of their finish. The team would go on to finish ninth at the NCAA West Regionals at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, led by Atkins' 29th place (20:36.8). Head Coach Emma Petersen was named the Big West Coach of the Year, while Weidler was named the league's freshman of the year.

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
On the men's side, the Aggies continued their steady improvement under Petersen's direction, finishing fourth at the Big West Conference Championships at home, rising from an eighth-place finish in Petersen's first year back in 2018. Freshman Austin Vasquez picked up All-Big West honors by virtue of his 10th-place inidividual finish, covering the Wildhorse course in a time of 24:16.0. Senior Ryman Crone (15th, 24:36.8) and sophomore Simon Fuller (22nd, 24:44.4) each finished among the top 25, followed by sophomore Ivan Mendez in 26th (25:52.9) and freshman Isaiah Galindo in 29th (24:57.4), to lead a youthful Aggie group among the top 30.
 

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