Villanova Women Win 12 Events En Route To Season-Opening Win Over UConn

Villanova vs Connecticut (W)

• Saturday, October 16, 2021
• Storrs, Conn.
• COMPLETE RESULTS (PDF)

Courtesy: Villanova Athletics

STORRS, Conn.—Graduate student Milly Routledge (North Ascot, U.K.) and senior Kelly Montesi (Greenwich, Conn.) each won three events and Villanova (1-0) swept the freestyle races in a 166.5-133.5 win over Connecticut (2-1) in a women’s meet at Wolff-Zackin Natatorium on Saturday afternoon. Four different swimmers won at least two individual events for the Wildcats in their season opener and Villanova capped off the win by taking first in the 400 free relay in the final event of the day.

Routledge was a part of four of the 12 events that the Wildcats won during the meet. She finished first in the 50, 100 and 200 yard freestyle races to go along with anchoring the 400 free relay. Her winning times were 23.77 in the 50 free, 51.82 in the 100 free and 1:52.51 in the 200 free. Villanova swept the freestyle events as senior Nicole Welch (Beverly, Mass.) won both the 500 free in 5:06.12 and the 1000 free with a time of 10:31.99.

The combination of Routledge, Welch and senior Abbey Berloco (Cranbury, N.J.) was a dominant one for the Wildcats as the trio combined for 60 points in the individual freestyle events. They formed a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 free with Routledge touching the wall first just ahead of Welch (1:54.99) and Berloco (1:55.17) who came in second and third, respectively. Routledge and Berloco also went 1-2 in both the 50 free and the 100 free. Berloco was the runner-up in both races with times of 24.37 and 52.96, respectively.

Montesi won the 100 back, the 200 back and the 100 fly. Her first event of the day was the 100 back which she won in 56.11 and she went on to finish first in both the 200 back (2:00.24) and the 100 fly (54.91) later in the meet. Montesi’s win in the 100 back gave Villanova the lead for good in a close meet which was back-and-forth through many of the early events contested. The other double winner for the Wildcats was junior Kaitlin Gravell (Ashton, Md.) who touched the wall first in the 200 breast (2:21.59) and the 200 IM (2:07.54).

Graduate student Elizabeth Bailey (Brookhaven, Ga.) was the winner in the 200 fly in her Villanova debut. The transfer from California posted a winning time of 2:05.32. The final victory of the day for the Wildcats was in the 400 free relay in which a lineup of Berloco, junior Perri Stahl (La Grange, Ill.), Montesi and Routledge finished first with a time of 3:31.16. Villanova led by just over a second midway through the race before Montesi extended the gap over the Huskies to 3.5 seconds with a strong third leg. The winning margin for the Wildcats wound up being 2.77 seconds at the finish line.

Saturday’s meet was an appealing matchup between the teams that finished first and second at the BIG EAST Championships last spring. Villanova won its eighth straight BIG EAST title and was competing for the first time this season, while the meet was the third of the 2021-22 campaign for Connecticut. It was the first dual competition between the teams since the Huskies rejoined the BIG EAST Conference last season.

Villanova will return to action on Saturday, October 30 when both the men’s and women’s teams will be in action in a dual meet at Georgetown.

Courtesy: UConn Athletics

STORRS, Conn – The UConn women’s swimming and diving team fell to Villanova Saturday morning by a score of 166.50 to 133.50.

The Huskies came out strong, placing one and two in the 200-yard medley relay. The relay team of sophomore Kayla Mendonca, senior Katelyn Walsh, senior Linnea Anderson and freshman Maggie Donlevy placed first with a time of 1:45.79. The team of freshman Paige Sugra, sophomore Angela Gambardella, freshman Charlotte Proceller and freshman Claire Ryland placed second with a time of 1:46.67.

UConn would maintain pace and head into the 100-yard freestyle up 76-74 on Villanova. Sophomore Analaura Faoro placed 1^st in the 1-meter diving helping give UConn the lead over Villanova, while freshman Julia Pioso placed 3^rd.

Following the 100-yard freestyle, Villanova took the lead and held on the rest of the meet. In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay of junior Mia Galat, freshman Maggie Donlevy, senior Linnea Anderson and sophomore Melissa Lowry finished second with a time of 3:33.93. However, the Huskies ended up losing a tough one to Villanova by a final score of 166.50 to 133.50.

Up Next

The Huskies are back home at the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium on Saturday October 23^rd as they take on Georgetown University and NJIT.