PITTSBURGH – Seven of the 16 events in Thursday's meet went in favor of Villanova, but the Wildcats fell to Pittsburgh 176.5-121.50 at the Panthers' Trees Pool.
Villanova (5-2) tallied well-over 20 top-five performances in the loss. Pittsburgh (2-0) snaps a three-meet winning streak for the Wildcats on the year, marking the first loss in head-to-head action since falling to Penn on Nov. 10, 2021.
The senior duo of
Kelly Montesi (Greenwich, Conn.) and
Nicole Welch (Beverly, Mass.) combined for five individual wins for Villanova (5-2) in the loss. Montesi once again had a standout day, winning each of her individual races for a fourth-straight meet. In the last three meets, she has seen no lower than a first-place finish in both individual and relay races. Thursday, Montesi won the 100 Back (54.81), 200 Back (1:58.68) and the 400 IM (4:23.04). Welch was the victor in the 500 Free (5:02.09) and the 1000 Free (10:16.84).
Montesi also added on a relay win in the 400 Free (3:27.34). She swam anchor for the unit that included
Milly Routledge (North Ascot, U.K.),
Perri Stahl (La Grange, Ill.) and
Abbey Berloco (Cranbury, N.J.).
Routledge was the only other Wildcat to log a win on the day, taking the 50 Free in 23.87. The same race saw Stahl finish third (23.99) and Berloco tie for fourth (24.06).
A close 2-3 finish came for Routledge and Berloco in the 200 Free with just eight-hundredths of a second separating the pair. Routledge touched second at 1:52.89 and Berloco in third at 1:52.97. A similar finish came in the 100 Free with Routledge earning second in 51.89 followed by Berloco in third at 52.01.
In 200 Medley Relay action, the fasted Villanova team was made up on
Audrey Pastorek (Savannah, Ga.), Stahl,
Elizabeth Bailey (Brookhaven, Ga.) and
Cara Stapleton (Dublin, Ireland), combining for a third-place time of 1:47.09. Stapleton,
Molly Benson (Kensington, Md.), Welch and
Lexi Elkovitch (New Albany, Ohio) were third in the 400 Free Relay (3:33.55).
Kaitlin Gravell (Ashton, Md.) turned in a fourth-place swim in the 100 Breast (1:06.56) and second-place swim in the 400 IM (4:26.68). Bailey finished second in the 200 Fly (2:04.82) and 100 Fly (57.03). Gravell and Stahl picked up a 2-3 showing in the 200 Breast with times of 2:23.77 and 2:24.35, respectively.
In diving to start the meet,
Andrea Holtz (Rosemount, Minn.) finished fifth in the 1-meter (212.33) and sixth in the 3-meter (236.25).
Villanova hits the road again on Saturday, this time heading to Morgantown, W.V. to face West Virginia and Iowa State at 11 a.m.
