"It feels great, honestly," Child and Meisel Families Director of Men's Water Polo Daniel Leyson said after the match. "It takes a lot of work to get here, and to get to this match so many times and to have lost it, it's just a long road to get back and there's never a guarantee you're going to get back to it the following year.

"I'm just thankful and excited for our team. It's not about me, it's about the players and the work they put in the pool today. It was pretty phenomenal to watch. It was a very hard-fought game, a very closely contested match against a very well-coached team with some excellent players."

"They're the No. 1 seed and they have a ton of weapons at every position, but we're a little bit more familiar with them having played them a couple of times," Leyson said. "We're looking forward to continuing on and playing that game. We're excited for what's to come.

"It's definitely an underdog type scenario and, you know, the underdog never has to face as much pressure as the favorite. However, the underdog has to play well in order to knock off the favorite. They have a very strong and experienced team and they're a formidable opponent."

"Defensively I thought we were good enough to have won this game," Graves said. "But we're just not real good offensively right now. It's kind of disappointing. We've got to get better."

"They wanted it more, you could tell," Graves said of that stretch. "They were more organized; they played harder. That was killer. … That's tough to swallow."

"We had some pretty good looks," Graves said. "One of the things I've always prided myself on — well, two things offensively: shot selection and taking care of the ball. We took care of the ball; we had a decent night with our shot selection. We just didn't make many."

A CLASSY MOVE … Although the Aggie Band did not make the trip to South Dakota State, when UC Davis players ran onto the field just before the start of the game they were greeted with the strains of Aggie Fight playing loudly over the Dykhouse Stadium public address system.

As I listened to the familiar sounds I had known since childhood, I imagined I was wrong about the Band not making the trip. Still, as I looked around the field and out onto the vast prairie beyond, there was no Aggie band in sight. And from my vantage point at the top of the stadium, I could see all the way to Minnesota.

I was struck by what a kind gesture it was of SDSU officials to think of greeting the Aggies in this way.

But that was not all. The same tune was played loudly again after the Aggies scored their first touchdown. I have honestly never seen such wonderful consideration of a worthy opponent in my many decades of covering college football.

Someone back there in South Dakota has a heart of gold.

FIRST ROADTRIP OF THE 2021-2022 SEASON!

Hello Loyal Aggie Family! We are so excited for the next month of basketball here at UC Davis. When you have experienced the level of success at the Mid-Major level that we have, we are constantly looking to challenge ourselves at the highest level.

This week we kick off a month of playing Top 25 teams: Oregon, Stanford, Washington State and Gonzaga!

Last season, we played in a nail biter against the Ducks. Up at halftime, it was a back-n-forth battle until the Ducks squeaked out a 6pt win.
Soooooo..... you better believe our UC Davis Aggies are excited for today's re-match. If you are able to tune into the game, you will note that the Ducks will have a couple of their typical starters out. PG #12 Te-Hina Paopao is still out with injury, and we got word that starting center #1 Nyara Sabally will not suit out either. So expect a shorter rotation from Oregon, as we are crossing our fingers to see #3 Campbell Gray log some minutes for us at the point guard spot.

Hopefully you can follow the action on the Pac-12 network!

Go Ags!

Coach Des