Villanova’s women’s team continued its strong season with a 157-102 win over Penn at Sheerr Pool. When Milly Routledge and Kelly Montesi led the team with three gold medals each as the team got its fourth straight win. The men, however, fell to Penn 160-96, with Justin Cucchi leading the tournament with two golds and one silver. In the diving portion of the meet, Michael Perra and Bridie Dunn both continued their strong seasons with Perra finishing first in the one meter and second in the three meter, and Dunn finishing first in the one and second in the three. 

Routledge won Big East Women’s Athlete of the Week a few weeks ago and has been masterful in the water this season. 

“Milly was a highly recruited athlete coming out of the United Kingdom, and she uses sheer athleticism to be really strong in the water,” Head Coach Rick Simpson said. “We are happy to have her.” 

Cucchi and Stephen Krecsmar have been putting together incredible seasons so far, and while Krecsmar didn’t have his best performance at Sheerr Pool, Simpson isn’t surprised or worried. 

“I wouldn’t say I was surprised with either of their seasons so far, because both of them represented Villanova on the US National Team over the summer, so they have been training and competing non-stop. Now for Stephen (Krecsmar), he has pushed himself very hard and eventually he’s going to be exhausted at a tournament. Unfortunately, that is what happened at Penn. So I am not worried about him. He is very good.” 

With Perra, Simpson mentioned that he has been very good for a few years, but not only in the pool, but out of it as well. 

“Michael is an all around guy,” Simpson said. “He’s a really good diver, but he also is very involved in groups around campus and is very focused in school, so while I am not the diving coach and can’t say a ton about his ability, what I can say, it is great have that guy, who is amazing all around.” 

Villanova heads to West Virginia this Thursday through Saturday for a three-day, multiteam tournament at WVU Mountaineer Invite. Simpson says that he changes up his preparation for a tournament like this. 

“We definitely give our team a lot of rest,” Simpson said. “So instead of working out every day, they get to rest, relax and get sharp for this tournament, and we also do this with Big East Championships. So this should give guys like Stephen to get their necessary rest and be sharp for this upcoming meet, because with three days, it can be tough to keep going, because it is so long with Preliminaries in the morning, and Finals at night.”