After a challenging road trip, where the Huskies fell to Big East champions Villanova and defeated Georgetown, UConn aims to kickstart a winning streak against Northeastern on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Boston.
The UConn women’s swim and dive team had a good start to the season so far, and they’ll enter Boston 2-1, their only loss having been to Villanova back on Oct. 17, who routed them 172-128 points. However, the Huskies rebounded with an even bigger win against Georgetown two days later, 186-109.
The team of graduate student Kayla Mendonca, freshman Sydney Perkins, freshman Stella McCardie and senior Maggie Donlevy opened proceedings by winning the 200-yard medley relay. The Huskies were on a roll and kept winning, as they nailed a total of 13 out of 16 events against the Hoyas.
The highlights of the day were Donlevy setting a pool record in the 100-yard backstroke (55.75s) and Perkins setting a pool record for the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.58s). Head Coach Chris Maiello was over the moon with his team’s performance on Saturday. “I’m impressed with the team, their spirit, their fight and the drive to be better. Good things are coming for this group,” he said.
The Northeastern team is coming off a 5-1 season last year that placed them fourth in the CAA. The 2024-2025 campaign will be the 32nd year under Coates, who has led the team since 1992.
The Northeastern Huskies will be coming in with a 2-1 record, although their most recent meet ended with a loss against MIT. Graduate student Emily Gjertsen took their first win of the meet in the 1000-yard freestyle. The Northeastern Diving A team, comprised of senior Erin Murphy, senior captain Isabelle Chambers and Junior Jodi Au, pipped the MIT diving A team by 0.1 points to take the 1-meter team diving event. Northeastern took four more individual event wins, but it wasn’t enough to surmount a 49-point deficit against the Engineers, as the final totals were 123-174.
Looking past the Northeastern meet, UConn will have their first meet at home in over a month, when they face Rhode Island on Nov 9. Apart from the Bucknell Invitational, the women’s swim and dive team will soon start a homestand that will last until January. The Huskies’ Saturday contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Boston.