DAVIS, Calif. (U-WIRE) -- National champion.

Few teams can lay claim to the title at UC-Davis this year. One group that can, however, is the UCD women's ultimate Frisbee team, which completed a historic season by winning its first-ever national championship Sunday.

Known as the Pleiades, the UCD women captured the title at the 2004 Ultimate Players Association's College Championships held in Seattle from Friday to Sunday. UCD defeated Carleton College from Minnesota 15-12 on Sunday in the finals to earn the championship.

The game went back and forth as neither team could build a lead of more than two points for most of the match. However, the Pleiades finally broke a 12-12 tie by scoring three times in a row to clinch the victory.

The Pleiades started the road to the championship game by competing in round-robin play Friday. It was smooth sailing throughout all three opening games for the Pleiades, which they swept without much trouble.

They first took out Claremont College 15-4, then defeated Rutgers University 15-6. UCD finished pool play with a 15-4 victory over the University of Texas.

By going 3-0 in pool play, the Pleiades not only secured a spot in the championship bracket of the tournament, but also received a first-round bye.

Their first game on Saturday was a quarterfinal match against Brown University. The Pleiades again won handily 15-7 to move within two wins of the title. Later on Saturday, the team had its semifinal match against UC-San Diego, which was seeded first in the tournament and ranked No. 1 nationally.

However, it was the Pleiades, the tournament's third seed, who played like the No. 1 team, winning a tight match in come-from-behind fashion 15-13.

"That was a really good game," senior Katja Bloomquist said. "It was windy and raining and we were down 13-11, but we came back and won it."

The other semifinal pitted Stanford University, the defending UPA champion and UCD's closest rival all season, against Carleton. Stanford had defeated the Pleiades in the Bay Area Sectional final before losing to them in a close game in the Northwest Regional championship.

However, Stanford never got a chance to avenge the regional loss to the Pleiades as Carleton squeaked by with a 15-13 win.

Seeded eighth, Carleton had also defeated UCSD and UC-Berkeley in the tournament and was looking to continue a magical run to the championship against the Pleiades. For UCD, the game with Carleton was a chance for revenge.

"When we went to the nationals in 2000, we played and lost to [Carleton] in the semifinals, so it was nice to win this one against them," Bloomquist said.

Carleton had success in the tournament because of the strong play of senior Miranda Roth, who won the UPA's Callahan Award, given to college ultimate's most valuable player.

However, Pleiades senior Danielle Manning played intense defense and limited Roth's ability to lift her team, which turned out to be one of the deciding factors in UCD's win.

The game was neck-and-neck until the Pleiades finally distanced themselves. With the score 14-12 in favor of UCD, junior Lindsey Riemenschneider caught the game-winner to clinch the title.

Celebration ensued, as physically drained UCD players rushed the field to celebrate a victorious end to their season.

"I just wish I could've limped over to the dogpile a little faster when we won," said junior Vicki Wilk. "[Carleton] was a really deep team and really solid, and I was just so happy we won."

Six players on the team end their careers on top, including Bloomquist and co-captains Brooke Babineau and Julie Baker.

"I know that the team will be really good [next year]," Bloomquist said.

(C) 2004 The California Aggie via U-WIRE.