UConn vs Villanova (W)
- Thursday, October 20, 2022
- Villanova, Pa.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Final Score: UConn 180.5, Villanova 119.5
Courtesy: UConn Athletics
Coming off a pair of home wins, the University of Connecticut swim and dive team traveled to Villanova Thursday to begin a stretch of away meets this weekend.
Dive kicked off the meet with a pair of wins, putting the Huskies up 31-7 before any swimming began. “Our ladies looked strong today, and we’re just getting started” said Dave McKown of the performance. The team placed first in ten of sixteen events, with high placement throughout. Among them, strong wins for Niamh Hofland (1000y, 500y Free), Pioso (1m, 3m Dives), and Martino (50y, 100y Free).
Coach Maiello described the day as a “great team win.”
“We have not beat Villanova since 2014 so it’s been a long time. The team earned this win. We are really proud of our team’s mindset, race and dive execution and our overall competitiveness. So many athletes had game-changing performances and from top to bottom we had a good day. Our staff is enthusiastic about what the future holds for this team.”
The win marks the first win over Villanova since 2014, described by Hofland as, “An amazing start to the conference dual meet season. Super excited with my swims, and the team atmosphere! …Now it’s about keeping our heads down until February and we’ll see what happens then.”
The team hopes to carry this momentum as it benefits from continued positive atmosphere, “The meet went very well. The energy from our team is the best part of the meet and what really kept us going. I couldn’t have done anything in my races without their support,” Martino said.
With wins in both diving events, Pioso said, “I’m feeling so proud to be a part of this major Husky win. It was motivating and energizing to see everyone giving their all and fighting so hard. I can’t wait to continue contributing to what’s going to be an incredible season for us.”
Up Next
The Huskies will continue their road meet weekend with competition against Georgetown set to begin at noon on Saturday.
Courtesy: Villanova Athletics
VILLANOVA, Pa. – A trio of Villanova newcomers logged individual victories on Thursday as the Wildcats fell to UConn, 180.5-119.5, at the Villanova Swim Complex.
Freshmen Mary Kate Farrell, Winnie Jalet and Katie White all locked up victories in their first meet for Villanova (0-1), combining for five of the team’s six individual wins. The other win belonged to Audrey Pastorek in the 200 IM, posting a 2:07.17.
Farrell swam a 1:54.14 time in the 200 Free. Both Jalet and White recorded sweeps in the breaststroke and butterfly, respectively. Jalet touched with a winning time of 1:04.56 in the 100 Breast before taking the 200 Breast in 2:21.32. White turned in a dominating time of 2:02.31 in the 200 Fly, distancing herself from the rest of the field by nearly eight seconds. Later she tied for first in the 100 Fly with UConn’s Ella Epes, both finishing in 56.82.
The loss snaps a four-meet winning streak for Villanova in head-to-head matchups with UConn (3-0).
Both Caroline Blankenbecler and Claire Feick notched top-five scores in diving to start the day. Blankenbecler secured a fifth-place score of 198.89 in the 1 meter while Feick was third in the 3 meter at 242.77.
Villanova’s group of Pastorek, Margaret Kleinsmith, Lainey Quinones and Perri Stahl faced a close race in the 200 Medley Relay, finishing just three-tenths of a second behind UConn at 1:45.40.
Brenna McLaughlin touched third in the 1000 Free at 10:51.01. Pepper Ritchey and Francesca Raimondi joined her in point scoring for the ‘Cats, finishing fourth (11:00.04) and fifth (11:02.19), respectively.
Outside of her 200 IM win, Pastorek also added on a top-three finish in the 100 Back, posting a 57.29 time that was good enough for second. In the 100 Breast, Kleinsmith joined Jalet in the top three, finishing third at 1:05.55.
The 50 Free saw a close competition between the top five with eight-tenths of a second separating the pack. Quinones was the leading Wildcat in that race, finishing in second at 24.46 with Stahl right behind her in third with a 24.66 time.
Farrell had another top-three performance in the 100 Free, touching in 53.46. Cara Stapleton trailed her closely, turning in a fourth-place time of 53.47. After that, Hannah Wasmuth finished the 200 Back in 2:04.87, good enough for third. In the 500 Free, Kaitlin Gravell was the lone Wildcat in the top three, posting a 5:12.34 that landed her third.
The Wildcats won the final event of the day in the 400 Free Relay with Stapleton, Quinones, Farrell and Stahl turning in a 3:34.03 performance.
Villanova is back in the pool next week, hosting Georgetown in a men’s and women’s dual. That meet is set for noon on October 29.
