In second swim meet of the year, Villanova’s women’s swimming and diving team picked up where it left off last week with a very impressive 139-104 win against rival Big East opponent UConn.

However, the men’s team still could not swim to its first win on the early season, falling to the Huskies in a 132-74 match.

The women’s team was once again carried by senior Maddy Crippen and junior Rebecca Koch, as they combined for a total of five individual victories.  

Crippen led the way with three first place finishes while Koch notched two. Crippen’s first-place finishes were in the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.78), the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.80) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.64), while Koch’s first place finishes came in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.94) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:56.60). Crippen was not really challenged in her events, as she won all three by at least two and half seconds. Koch dominated the field in the 500-yard freestyle, winning the race by a very impressive ten seconds.

The ’Cats were also led by Laura Schulman, Kiersten Rosenberg and Victoria Delollo, who all placed first in their events. Schulman won the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:20.75) in convincing fashion, as the runner-up finished six seconds behind her. However, Rosenberg and Delollo were not as dominant as their teammate; they were both challenged and only ended up winning their races by a slight margin. Rosenberg won the 100-yard freestyle (52.85) by only four-tenths of a second and Delollo won the 200-yard backstroke (2:02.94), by only three-tenths of a second.

In addition, Dellolo, Koch, and Rosenberg teamed up with Charysse Johnston to take the 400-yard medley relay (3:55.43). Rosenberg then joined with Nichole Werger, Amanda Jackson, and Trista Felty and swam to a first place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:34.87).

Though the men’s team lost to UConn, this did not stop some of the team from having a solid event. The men were led by senior Justin Buland, who won the 200-yard breaststroke event (2:17.74). Also, sophomore Bryan Rivera, who finished second in last week’s meet, rebounded to win his first 500-yard freestyle event of the year (4:43.53).

In relay competition, the men were able to split with UConn, as the ’Cats won the 400-yard freestyle and the Huskies took the 400-yard medley. The ’Cats’ team in the freestyle consisted of Matt McLaughlin, Buland, Rivera and Peter Kilmas.

Though the swim teams both enjoyed some success this weekend, it did not translate into success for the diving team, as both the men and women struggled.

The highest finish by any Villanova diver was a fourth place mark by Julie Rhines, who tallied a score of 218.62 on the one-meter board.

Both the teams will travel to Lewisburg, Pa. this weekend, for the Bucknell Sprint Invitational.