This past Saturday, Villanova’s women’s swimming and diving team defeated Georgetown, 156- 144, while men’s swimming and diving fell to the Hoyas, 206-92.
For the women, senior Audrey Pastorek took the spotlight once again, winning the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and the 200 individual medley.
“Audrey is certainly conducting herself, as she was the Big East swimmer of the year last year,” head coach Rick Simpson said. “You put her in a clutch position, and she steps up and takes care of business, but she also does it with a lot of confidence.”
Along with the dominant performance from Pastorek, sophomore Lainey Quinones, sophomore Winnie Jalet and freshman Alyssa McHale also contributed to the win by taking second in the 200 medley relay.
Another standout performance came from freshman Martina Lonati, who won the 100 butterfly, tapping the wall at 52.59. Lonati also won the 100 freestyle and picked up a second place win in the 200 freestyle.
“[Lonati] probably has had the best meet she’s had all year,” Simpson said. “Even though we’ve only had two live meets, this was the best we’ve seen her all year. She did a fantastic job.”
While the women’s swimmers took control, the diving program also shined.
“I’m really excited with the way our divers performed, in particular, Alexa Fagely,” Simpson said. “She pulled out a win on the 1 meter, which was pretty huge… with Michelle Kasulka, a top diver who was slated to win one or two events, injured in warm-ups last weekend, they did a fantastic job.”
Looking ahead, the women will look to keep up their momentum on Nov. 4, when they take on La Salle (2-1) at home.
As for the men’s team, it proved to have more difficulty against the Hoyas.
“As two time defending champions, [Georgetown is] certainly performing like it, so we knew we had a pretty tough day ahead of us,” Simpson said.
Senior Charlie Hinckley carried his weight as a season veteran, winning the 1000 freestyle and 500 freestyle.
“We’ve seen some of his best swimming in the past couple weeks,” Simpson said. “I think he’s probably setting himself up for the best year of his career.”
Another notable performance came from Gavin Jones, recording the fastest time of the competition in the 100 freestyle.
Junior Aubrey Bowles and freshman Josh Seidman also secured the top two spots in the 200 backstroke.
Now 0-1 on the season, the men are looking to pick up its first win with multiple meets ahead of them.
“We’ve got three pool meets in the matter of four days,” Simpson said. “We have to bring our A-game for four straight days. From there we will focus on the West Virginia Invitational which is the second biggest date on our calendar.”
The men will face Rider (2-2) on Nov. 1, its home opener before traveling to Newark to take on NJIT (1-1) on Nov. 3. Following NJIT, the Wildcats will then head back home to face La Salle (0-3) on Nov. 4.
