Villanova, Pa.- After opening the 2015-16 season this past Wednesday at La Salle, Villanova Swimming and Diving will travel to Connecticut this Saturday to take on the Huskies starting at noon.

Head coach Rick Simpson is looking forward to the event and noted how close the results have been between these two schools over the years.

"The series between the two schools has been going on for at least 15 years or longer," Simpson said. "Several of those years the meet has come down to the very last event. It has turned into one of those events where Villanova is circled on their [UConn] calendar, and we have them circled on ours. The tradition and history of the rivalry is a good and healthy one. I would say there is mutual respect between both programs."

On Wednesday, the women (1-0) beat the Explorers 221-142 while the men (0-1) fell to La Salle 222.5-135.5.

The Wildcat women captured 12 first place, 10 second place and 14 third places finishes.

In the freestyle, senior Kaisla Kollanus won the 50 with a time of 24.50. Freshman Elise Pidutti won the 100 at 53.22 in her first collegiate meet. The native of Newcastle, Australia also won the 200 IM with a 2:08:05 finish.

Junior Emily Mayo won 200 free, and she captured first place in 500 free. Sophomore Caitlin Daday won the 1000 freestyle at 10:11.97, roughly 37 seconds faster than the field. The Allentown, Pa. native also won the 200 backstroke with a time of 52:05.63.

Although the Villanova men were defeated by La Salle, sophomore Logan Ziegler won the 200 breaststroke with a 2:16.80 finish, while sophomore Tyler Nussbaum placed second with a time of 2:17.04.

Sophomore Jake Hoin would have a strong showing in the100 butterfly as he finished first with a time of 52.35.

The Villanova women narrowly lost to the Huskies last year 134.5-127.5. The men were defeated 171.5-85.5.

Connecticut

Saturday will be the season opener for both the men's and the women's swimming teams. The UConn women did host a non-scoring scrimmage last Friday against Yale, Rhode Island, and Central Connecticut.

The UConn men finished third out of four at last year's AAC championships. The women placed second out of six at last year's AAC championships.

Results will be posted following the competition of Saturday's event.