VILLANOVA, Pa.—Graduate student Milly Routledge (North Ascot, UK) and senior Kelly Montesi (Greenwich, Conn.) were individual winners in the swimming events, senior diver Andrea Holtz (Rosemount, Minn.) finished first in the one-meter competition and Villanova (2-1) also won the 400 free relay in its home opener against Penn (1-1) at the Villanova Swim Complex on Wednesday evening. The visiting Quakers tallied a 169-120 victory in the team result.
 
Routledge and Montesi each recorded three first or second place finishes on the night and the Wildcats tallied a total of 15 individual top-three results. Wednesday's meet marked the first time this season that the 400 IM was on the Villanova meet schedule and Montesi combined with junior Kaitlin Gravell (Ashton, Md.) for a 1-2 finish in the race. Montesi touched the wall first in 4:25.05 and Gravell was second in 4:27.44. In her other individual events for the evening Montesi came in second in both the 100 fly (55.36) and the 200 fly (2:03.39).
 
The freestyle events continue to be one of the Wildcats strengths and Routledge recorded her best times of the season in the 50, 100 and 200 yard races. She won the 50 free in 23.73 and came in second in both the 100 free (51.54) and the 200 free (1:51.70). Routledge has placed first in the 50 free in all three of Villanova's dual meets to begin the year and has finished first or second in all three of her events in each of her races this season.
 
Gravell was another of the Wildcats top performers against Penn as she added to her runner-up showing in the 400 IM with third place finishes in both the 100 breast (1:06.14) and the 200 breast (2:21.19). Her times in each of the breaststroke races were season bests. Senior Nicole Welch (Beverly, Mass.) finished third in the 500 free with a season-best time of 5:06.01 and also took third in the 1000 free with a time of 10:26.10.
 
It was a strong meet for Gravell who added to her second place showing in the 400 IM with third place finishes in both the 100 breast (1:06.14) and the 200 breast (2:21.19). In the 100 back, sophomore Audrey Pastorek (Savannah, Ga.) and graduate student Elizabeth Bailey (Brookhaven, Ga.) came in second (57.67) and third (58.73), respectively.
 
Holtz tallied her second straight first place finish in the one-meter diving competition with a score of 240.52 points. She later came in second on the three-meter board in a close finish, tallying 242.77 points and coming in just seven points behind the top point scorer from Penn (249.90).
 
Villanova's final win of the night came in the 400 free relay in which the lineup of junior Perri Stahl (La Grange, Ill.), senior Abbey Berloco (Cranbury, N.J.), sophomore Molly Benson (Kensington, Md.) and freshman Lainey Quinones (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) recorded a time of 3:35.11 to touch the wall just under two seconds ahead of the top relay team from the Quakers. In the first race of the night, the Wildcats finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:44.03) with a lineup of Montesi, Stahl, Bailey and Routledge.
 
Villanova will now prepare for its first tournament of the season after competing in three straight dual meets to open the 2021-22 campaign. The team will head to West Virginia for the WVU Invitational from November 18-20 in Morgantown, W.Va.