UConn swim and dive will travel to southeastern Pennsylvania this Saturday to take on the Villanova Wildcats in their first of two Big East matchups this season. The Huskies are 2-8 against the Wildcats all-time and have not beaten them in a dual meet since 2014.
UConn will look to build on a solid performance from its first meet against Marist and Army, where the Huskies finished with 779 total points. In that meet, UConn had strong showings from Bella Hoffman, Sydney Perkins and Kate Van Ryn. Each delivered first-place finishes in their respective events.
In total, UConn had 16 podium finishes and four first place finishes in the meet, and the Huskies especially excelled at the 50-yard backstroke, as four of the top six finishers in this event were UConn swimmers. However, their efforts were not nearly enough to match Army’s 1,003 points.
This Saturday, UConn will compete against Carlota Colomer Guasch, the 2026 Big East Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer who earned seven All-Big East selections last year. The team will also go up against Anna Farley, who earned seven All-Big East selections last year as well. Colomer Guasch specializes in sprint and mid-distance freestyle events while Farley specializes in the butterfly and individual medley events.
On the diving side, the Wildcats have Michelle Kasulka, the 2026 Big East Women’s Most Outstanding Diver. She placed first in the 3-meter diving event and fourth in the 1-meter diving event at the Big East Championship last year.
UConn will be looking for standout performances from star swimmers Rhian Russell, Sydney Perkins and Jessica Sheng, as well as from star divers Olivia Denery and Kate Cooper.
When you look at the matchup history, where the meet is being held and the overall talent between the two schools, everything favors Villanova.
However, unlike Villanova, UConn is warmed up.
The Huskies have already had a meet this season and competed at the Husky Diving Invite. They also held the Blue vs. White Intrasquad meet. The Wildcats, on the other hand, have not had a single meet, exhibition or intrasquad meet yet this season.
Villanova has won the Big East Championship the last 13 seasons in a row, and since joining the Big East in 2021, UConn has finished second every single year. Therefore, if the Huskies defeated the Wildcats, the victory wouldn’t just be a normal victory for UConn; it would be a turning point for the program.
UConn and Villanova will battle it out starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Villanova Swim Complex in Villanova, Pa.