Villanova’s women’s swimming and diving team defeated UConn, 154-146, in its season opener this past Saturday.

“Having UConn as the first meet of the semester was a great benchmark for how we can improve and where we are shining so far this season,” head coach Rick Simpson said. “There was no better team to compete against the first week.”

The ‘Cats came in hot, finishing second and third in the 400-yard medley relay. In the 1000-yard freestyle, Villanova took second and third once more, coming close to first-place finisher Niahm Hofland of UConn.

The 200-yard freestyle was the event where Villanova began to truly shine, with senior Molly Benson taking first and freshman Martina Lonati coming in second.

Senior Audrey Pastorek won both the 100 and 200 yard backstroke competitions.

“Pastorek was the Big East Swimmer of the Year last year,” Simpson said. “She has truly stepped up as a leader on the team and showed her skills in all of the events she swam this past weekend.”

While Villanova continued to do well in its swimming races, the ‘Cats also found success in diving during the meet.

“Freshman Michelle Kasulka showed great strength against UConn,” Simpson said. “As an incoming freshman, her [achieving] second place behind an amazing diving program such as UConn shows great potential going forward.”

Both Villanova’s men’s and women’s teams will face Georgetown in their home openers on Saturday, Oct. 28. Georgetown’s women’s team is 2-1 in team vs. team contests, while the men’s team is 3-0. The women’s team is coming off of a loss to UConn, but the men’s team defeated NJIT, 199.5-100.5.

“We will have to bring our A-game,” Simpson said. “We are eager to see how our men perform against two-time conference champions. We believe it will be a great meet to see how both our men’s and women’s programs do against Georgetown.”