STUDENT-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT – Jade Light
 
Jade Light made history for the Aggies this season as the program's first-ever conference Player of the Year, leading the Big West with 3.99 kills per set. Her 447 total kills pushed her past the 1,000-kill milestone for her career, making her just the 13th player in program history to reach that mark. Throughout the regular season, she also earned three Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors.
 
She is an accomplished student off the court, double majoring in mechanical engineering and aerospace science. This past month, the UC Davis College of Engineering featured Light, highlighting how she balances her academic workload with the demands of being a Division I student-athlete. Hit the link HERE to read more about Light's journey.
 
STAFF SPOTLIGHT – Dan Connors
 
On Nov. 20 against CSUN, Volleyball Head Coach Dan Conners etched his name into Aggie history by becoming the program's all-time winningest coach with his 170th career victory. Since taking over in 2014, Conners has guided the Aggies through some of the program's biggest milestones, including a postseason appearance in 2019 and a program-record 16 conference wins this season.
 
Those milestones translated into a wave of honors in 2025, as Conners' leadership helped guide senior Jade Light to Big West Player of the Year, junior Mia Starr to Big West Setter of the Year, and sophomore Ximena Cordero Barr to Big West Libero of the Year. Conners also earned his first career Big West Coach of the Year honor.
 
Now sitting at 172 career wins and guiding the Aggies into their first season of Mountain West play next year, Conners looks to continue elevating the program in a new era of UC Davis volleyball.
 
DONOR IMPACT – Jean Fridley
 
This month, we celebrate a new scholarship supporting women in UC Davis Women's Swimming and Diving, made possible by Jean Fridley and inspired by her daughter-in-law Elaine's extraordinary Aggie journey.
 
Elaine Scott earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural engineering from UC Davis in 1979 and 1981 while competing on the women's swimming and diving and women's water polo teams. The lessons she gained as an Aggie helped launch a groundbreaking career in engineering education. She founded the School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, served as the inaugural dean of STEM at the University of Washington Bothell, and later became the first woman to serve as dean of engineering at Santa Clara University. Through every step, she never left the pool, and her UC Davis teammates remain some of her closest lifelong friends.
 
Elaine is married to fellow Aggie Jim Fridley, a 1979 agricultural engineering graduate and professor emeritus at the University of Washington after more than three decades on the faculty.
 
Jean and her late husband, Robert Fridley, a UC Davis engineering professor, helped shape the university through their commitment to students, research and the Aggie community. Fridley/Scott family donations to UC Davis date back to 1979, supporting both UC Davis Athletics and the College of Engineering and continuing a tradition of generosity that spans generations.
 
Jean's scholarship honors Elaine's legacy as both an engineer and student-athlete, carrying forward the Fridley/Scott family's belief in opportunity, excellence and the transformative power of UC Davis. Her gift will help future Aggies pursue engineering or other STEM fields while competing for UC Davis, and ensure they experience the same supportive, life-changing environment that set Elaine on her path.
 
We are grateful for Jean's generosity and the Fridley/Scott family's enduring devotion to UC Davis.
 
IN THE COMMUNITY – Swim and Dive Spends Time Giving Back
 
When the UC Davis women's swim and dive team received a request to support a water-loving California Health Care (CHC) resident, the Aggies made sure to make it special.
 
Balancing a road meet in Reno, the Aggies visited CHC in early November and spent the afternoon connecting with residents. The team split into small groups, shared stories, and gifted team gear, including swim caps, shirts, and shorts.
 
After the visit, the team reflected together on the experience and the impact of giving back beyond competition. "Our team works hard to give back to the Davis community; it was awesome to see the impact we had on Tiffany and the care center's patients. I was proud to be an Ag," said junior captain Ella Palmer.
 
AGGIES IN COMPETITION – Men's Water Polo Wins The Big West Tournament; Football Advances To NCAA FCS Playoff Quarterfinals
 
MEN'S WATER POLO – Coming into the Big West Championships at 12-12 and as the third seed in the tournament, the men's water polo team had to power through the top of the conference if they wanted to qualify for their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. After a five-point victory over Cal State Fullerton, the Aggies faced a big test in the Semifinals against UC Santa Barbara, the team that beat them at Schaal during Senior Day. After battling back and forth through three quarters, the Aggies pulled away in the fourth, solidifying their first-ever Big West Finals appearance in three seasons in the conference.
 
The championship round featured another taunting task, with Davis taking on top-seeded Long Beach State. After taking a 4-2 lead in the first quarter, the Aggies didn't look back, matching each Beach goal with a score of their own to win 12-11 and advance to the team's first NCAA appearance since 2022.
 
FOOTBALL – After coming back and knocking off Sacramento State to win the Causeway Classic, UC Davis football got an early holiday gift from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision committee when they selected the Aggies as the No. 8 seed heading into the playoffs, meaning that the Aggies would get to host, for a second-straight year, the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
 
The visitors turned out to be the No. 9 Coastal Athletic Association champion Rhode Island Rams, marking the first meeting between the programs. The Dec. 6 playoff game in Shredville carried extra significance as it aired nationally on ESPN2, the first linear ESPN broadcast at UC Davis Health Stadium. The Aggies rose to the moment, defeating Rhode Island 47–26 in front of more than 8,500 fans to bring the Rams' season to an end.
 
The victory, coupled with Illinois State upsetting No. 1 North Dakota State in its second-round match up in Fargo, North Dakota, means the Aggies earn the right to host, for the first time since 2001, an NCAA Playoff Quarterfinal match up. A win there means the Aggies move one game away from making a program first trip to the NCAA National Championship game.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS:
UC Davis, the No. 2 ranked public university by the Wall Street Journal, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked #1 in Agriculture and Forestry as well as #1 in Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.
 
For more information, visit https://ucdavisaggies.com/.