After a loss to Villanova in their first match of the season last Saturday, the UConn women’s swim and dive team went on the road for the first time this season to face Northeastern.
Early in the meet, the Huskies saw major positives as upperclassmen Ana Laura Faoro and Niamh Hofland grabbed first place in the 3-meter diving event and 1000-yard freestyle event, respectively. However, Northeastern’s success in relays throughout the meet would help separate them from UConn in a 165.5 to 133.5 victory.
Despite the frustrating loss, Connecticut saw plenty of strong performances throughout the meet. Senior Angela Gambardella took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke, narrowly finishing ahead of Northeastern’s Joyce Wu by .73 seconds to win the event. Freshman Olivia Herbert took first place in the 200-yard butterfly event. Continuing her already impressive day, Hofland claimed additional first-place victories in the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley to lead the Huskies.
In particular, the 100-yard backstroke was one of many events that Northeastern performed well in throughout the meet. However, the Huskies gained 14 points from this event, highlighted by four of their swimmers recording top-five placements. The program also delivered another stellar performance in the 50-yard freestyle event as four of their swimmers placed in the top-five.
Anna Verlander and Jamie Koo were instrumental for Northeastern with two first-place finishes apiece. In the 200-meter relay, Verlander and Koo led with a 1:44:84 time to take first place in the event. For Verlander, she captured first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56:58. As for Koo, she took first-place victories in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly to cap off her tremendous day.
After starting out the season 2-0, UConn now finds themselves 2-2 after two straight losses. The Huskies began the season with blowout victories over Southern Connecticut State (163-90) and Georgetown (175-125), but have dropped two straight to Villanova and Northeastern. Looking ahead, Connecticut will look to snap their two-game skid next Saturday in a road contest against Rhode Island.
