After a tough loss to Northeastern last week, the UConn women’s swim and dive team will return home this Saturday, Nov. 9 in hopes of achieving a different outcome. In their previous meet, the Huskies were unable to place first in the last event, resulting in a loss with a final score of 151-149 to finish their three-match road trip 1-2.
UConn will look to its strong freshman team to continue to secure first place spots on the score board. Freshman Jessica Sheng finished first in the 200-yard freestyle against Northeastern and fellow freshman Sydney Perkins secured first place in both the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke events.
Senior captain Maggie Donlevy again finished first place in the 100-yard backstroke and continues to be a key player for the Huskies. Senior Julia Pioso led the 3-meter diving event against Northeastern and finished in first place. Pioso, along with junior Darah Ostrom, are consistently atop the leaderboard in diving events and will look to do the same thing against the Rams.
Similar to UConn, the University of Rhode Island Rams are coming off a loss to Northeastern. The Rams failed to win the first six events of the meet, which ultimately resulted in their loss.
The Huskies will need to look out for sophomore Julianna Tyler, who had an impressive 200-yard butterfly finish time of 2:06. Sophomore Avery Potyrala has won the 50-yard freestyle two meets in a row for the Rams. The 500-yard freestyle has been a successful event for Rhode Island where they consistently place first, second and third.
Senior captain for the Rams, Hannah Benavides, is another key player that consistently places first in the 200-yard breaststroke. Fellow captain, senior Emma Lee, has struggled in the 200-yard butterfly so far this season so the Huskies should be aware of her determination to turn things around.
UConn will take on the University of Rhode Island Rams this Saturday at home with a start time of 1 p.m.