New for the 2025-26 academic year, Villanova will announce its top performers from the previous week in a press release and social media post each Monday afternoon. The weekly wrap will recognize one standout student-athlete from each sport who competed during the previous week.

VILLANOVA, Pa.—It was the busiest week of the year to date for Villanova Athletics during the period of February 16-22, with 14 of the Wildcats 24 varsity sports in action at least once and a total of 29 events on the schedule. Headlining the week was the women's swimming & diving team which cruised to its 13^th consecutive BIG EAST title. The men's track & field team ran the third-fastest distance medley relay in collegiate history during the week and women's track & field thrower Maria Deaviz broke her own school record in the shot put for the fourth time this season. This week's edition of the Weekly Wrap featured 14 student-athletes whose performances stood out over the past week. The Villanova Athletics Weekly Wrap is sponsored by Zajac and Padilla.
 
Baseball
Brayden Leonard
Sophomore, Infield, Alpharetta, Ga.
 
Leonard hit .364 (4-for-11) in a series at Lipscomb which was shortened to two games over the weekend. He helped power the Wildcats to an 11-5 victory in the series opener by going 3-for-6 with a triple, two runs scored and three runs batted in. Leonard also had a double and two RBI in the series finale. He has started all five games of the season at second base in his sophomore campaign and is slashing .286/.375/.429 through the first two weeks of the season while playing flawless defense (nine putouts, 16 assists, no errors).
 
Men's Basketball
Tyler Perkins
Junior, Guard, Lorton, Va.
 
Perkins continues to excel on both ends of the floor for Villanova and averaged 16.0 points per game with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in a pair of games last week. He helped the Wildcats outlast Xavier in overtime, 92-89, for a key conference road win during the week when he scored 17 points to go along with three rebounds and two steals. The junior guard is averaging 17.5 points per game over his last 11 contests.
 
Women's Basketball
Denae Carter
Senior, Forward, Philadelphia, Pa.
 
Carter was one of the biggest reasons that Villanova was able to stay within striking distance of top-ranked and undefeated Connecticut for nearly the entire game in an eventual 14-point defeat. She poured in a career-high 21 points with a dominant 8-of-9 shooting effort, including a career-high 3-of-3 three-pointers. Carter added three blocks and three steals against the Huskies, then followed up her performance with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals in a lopsided win over Marquette. She averaged 17.5 points per game for the week while shooting 67% (14-of-21) from the field.
 
Golf
Matt Zerfass
Senior, Macungie, Pa.
 
Zerfass got off to a hot start in the team's first Spring tournament when he carded a 70 (-2) over the first 18 holes at the Savannah Intercollegiate over the weekend. He would go on to tie for the team lead at the event with a score of 224 (+8) and rounds of 70-77-77. It all added up to a top 25 finish out of more than 100 golfers for Zerfass, who led the team with 10 birdies and was tied for second in the entire field with a 2.92 scoring average on the par-three holes.

Men's Lacrosse
Jake Melchionni
Junior, Long Stick Midfield, Bernardsville, N.J.
 
Villanova's only game of the week was a road contest at nationally ranked Rutgers where Melchionni picked up a career-high nine ground balls and tied a career high with three caused turnovers. The defensive stalwart for the Wildcats is averaging 5.3 grounds balls and 2.7 caused turnovers per game thus far in 2026. He was named to the initial Watch List for this year's Tewaaraton Award Presented by Stifel which will be presented to the top player in collegiate men's and women's lacrosse at the end of the season.
 
Women's Lacrosse
Mary Moore
Redshirt Sophomore, Midfield, Annapolis, Md.
 
There have been no signs of rust from Moore in the first three games of the season after she missed the 2025 campaign due to a preseason injury. Villanova's redshirt sophomore midfielder has scored in all three games this year and tied her career high with four goals in a home game against Rutgers last week. She scored on all four of her shot attempts in the game and added an assist to finish the day with five points. Moore has totaled six goals and two assists thus far in 2026, including scoring a free-position goal in each of the Wildcats first three outings.
 
Softball
Maranda Runco
Junior, Designated Player, Olyphant, Pa.
 
Villanova continued its gauntlet of early season games against some of the top teams in the country last week with a trip to the Joan Joyce Classic at Florida Atlantic. Runco batted .308 (4-for-13) during the tournament with a run scored and two runs batted in while hitting her first double and first home run of the season. The home run was a solo shot against Kansas for Runco, who set the Wildcats single season home run record a year ago when she hit 20 home runs.
 
Men's Swimming & Diving
Justin Nowicki
Junior, IM/Free, Victor, N.Y.
 
Nowicki swam to his second straight BIG EAST title in the 400 yard individual medley at the conference championships in Ocala, Fla. last week. He touched the wall in a winning time of 3:47.65 in the final and joins namesake Justin Cucchi (2019-20) as the only athletes in school history with back-to-back BIG EAST titles in the men's 400 IM. Nowicki medaled in all four of his races during the BIG EAST Championships. He added to his gold in the 400 IM with a silver medal in the 200 yard butterfly and a bronze in both the 200 yard individual medley and the 800 yard freestyle relay on which he swam the second leg.
 
Women's Swimming & Diving
Carlota Colomer Guasch
Junior, Breast/Free, Barcelona, Spain
 
Villanova won its 13^th consecutive BIG EAST team title last week and Colomer Guasch was named the Women's Most Outstanding Swimmer at the meet after she incredibly amassed 94 total points over four days of competition. Colomer Guasch swept the gold medals in the 50 yard freestyle (22.63), the 100 yard freestyle (49.98) and the 200 yard freestyle (1:48.89) in addition to contributing to winning relay teams in the 200 yard medley relay, the 200 yard free relay, the 400 yard free relay and the 800 yard free relay.
 
Men's Tennis
Ethan Carr
Junior, Birmingham, Ala.
 
Villanova won its only match of the week by a 4-2 score over Colgate in a home contest at the Bryn Mawr Racquet Club. Carr won both his singles and doubles matches in the team victory, beginning with the No. 1 doubles spot where he teamed with senior Cooper Gordon for a dominant 6-1 win. The Wildcats swept the doubles matches and then went on to claim singles victories at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 spots in the lineup. Carr was a straight-sets winner by scores of 6-1 and 6-3 over his Colgate opponent at No. 3 singles.
 
Women's Tennis
Maggie Gehrig
Senior, Charlotte, N.C.
 
Gehrig was a winner at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles as Villanova blanked Colgate in a 4-0 win last weekend. She teamed with senior Emi Callahan for a hard-fought, 7-5 win in their doubles match. The Wildcats won singles matches at the top three spots in the lineup, with Gehrig posting a straight-sets win over her Colgate opponent by scores of 6-1 and 6-3. Gehrig has won four of her last five singles matches to help Villanova even its dual record at 5-5 this season.
 
Men's Indoor Track & Field
Seán Donoghue
Graduate Student, Middle Distance, Dublin, Ireland
 
Villanova ran the third-fastest distance medley relay in collegiate history and posted the top time in the NCAA this season at the Philadelphia Metro last Friday night. In a head-to-head duel between the Wildcats and Penn State, Donoghue led off the DMR with a split of 2:50.02 over the first 1200 meters of the race. His split is the fastest ever 1200 meter leadoff in school history and set Villanova up to eventually post a school record time of 9:16.10. The mark is currently No. 2 in the country this season and will likely qualify the Wildcats DMR squad for the NCAA Championships this month. The race lineup featured Donoghue leading off followed by senior Ethan Walls, junior Dan Watcke and senior Marco Langon.
 
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Maria Deaviz
Graduate Student, Throws, Souderton, Pa.
 
Deaviz set the school record in the shot put for the fourth time this season and extended her lifetime indoor PR for the second straight meet with a distance of 17.01 meters at the Philadelphia Metro last week. Just a few short weeks after she became the first athlete in school history to clear 16 meters in women's shot put, Deaviz established a new club of one in the school record book by surpassing 17 meters. She now holds the top six throws in school history, and more importantly moved back into the top 16 of this season's NCAA descending order list in the shot put. The list will be used to determine the qualifiers for the NCAA Championships which take place next month in Fayetteville, Ark.
 
Water Polo
Riley Hull
Sophomore, Attacker, San Diego, Calif.
 
Villanova played just one game last week, a home contest against undefeated Princeton, and Hull continued to show why she has emerged as one of the team's top scoring threats. She scored four goals against the Tigers, including tallies in each of the final three quarters as the Wildcats went into halftime tied at 4-4 and hung with Princeton throughout the game before an eventual 14-9 setback. Hull scored two of her goals in the fourth quarter and leads Villanova with 31 goals on the season.
 

Villanova Performers of the Week for February 16-22
Sport	Name	Class	Hometown
Baseball	Brayden Leonard	Sophomore	Alpharetta, Ga.
Men's Basketball	Tyler Perkins	Junior	Lorton, Va.
Women's Basketball	Denae Carter	Senior	Philadelphia, Pa.
Golf	Matt Zerfass	Senior	Macungie, Pa.
Men's Lacrosse	Jake Melchionni	Junior	Bernardsville, N.J.
Women's Lacrosse	Mary Moore	Redshirt Sophomore	Annapolis, Md.
Softball	Maranda Runco	Junior	Olyphant, Pa.
Men's Swimming & Diving	Justin Nowicki	Junior	Victor, N.Y.
Women's Swimming & Diving	Carlota Colomer Guasch	Junior	Barcelona, Spain
Men's Tennis	Ethan Carr	Junior	Birmingham, Ala.
Women's Tennis	Maggie Gehrig	Senior	Charlotte, N.C.
Men's Indoor Track & Field	Seán Donoghue	Graduate Student	Dublin, Ireland
Women's Indoor Track & Field	Maria Deaviz	Graduate Student	Souderton, Pa.
Water Polo	Riley Hull	Sophomore	San Diego, Calif.

Villanova Athletics Scoreboard
February 16-22
 
Baseball
February 20: Villanova 11, Lipscomb 5
February 21: Lipscomb 9, Villanova 8
 
Men's Basketball
February 17: Villanova 92, Xavier 89 (ot)
February 21: No. 5 Connecticut 73, Villanova 63
 
Women's Basketball
February 18: No. 1 Connecticut 83, Villanova 69
February 22: Villanova 64, Marquette 39
 
Golf
February 21: Savannah Intercollegiate (11^th of 18, Day 1)
February 22: Savannah Intercollegiate (9^th of 18)
 
Men's Lacrosse
February 21: No. 18 Rutgers 8, Villanova 7
 
Women's Lacrosse
February 17: Villanova 13, Saint Joseph's 9
February 21: Rutgers 15, Villanova 12
 
Softball
February 20: Massachusetts 4, Villanova 1 (8 innings)
February 20: Kansas 8, Villanova 1
February 21: Kansas 4, Villanova 1
February 21: Florida Atlantic 9, Villanova 1 (5 innings)
February 22: Southern Indiana 2, Villanova 1
 
Men's Swimming & Diving
February 18: BIG EAST Championships (2^nd of 5, Day 1)
February 19: BIG EAST Championships (4^th of 5, Day 2)
February 20: BIG EAST Championships (4^th of 5, Day 3)
February 21: BIG EAST Championships  (3^rd of 5)
 
Women's Swimming & Diving
February 18: BIG EAST Championships (1^st of 7, Day 1)
February 19: BIG EAST Championships (1^st of 7, Day 2)
February 20: BIG EAST Championships (1^st of 7, Day 3)
February 21: BIG EAST Championships (1^st of 7)
 
Men's Tennis
February 21: Villanova 4, Colgate 2
 
Women's Tennis
February 21: Villanova 4, Colgate 0
 
Men's Indoor Track & Field
February 20: Philadelphia Metro (no team scoring)
 
Women's Indoor Track & Field
February 20: Philadelphia Metro (no team scoring)
 
Water Polo
February 19: Princeton 14, Villanova 9

 
Villanova Athletics Schedule
February 23-March 1

Baseball
February 27: at Florida Atlantic (6:30 PM)
February 28: at Florida Atlantic (4:00 PM)
March 1: at Florida Atlantic (12:00 PM)
 
Men's Basketball
February 25: Butler (7:00 PM)
February 28: at No. 15 St. John's (8:00 PM)
 
Women's Basketball
February 26: at Seton Hall (7:00 PM)
 
Men's Lacrosse
February 28: at Delaware (1:00 PM)
 
Women's Lacrosse
February 28: at Binghamton (12:00 PM)
 
Softball
February 27: vs. Michigan (10:00 AM)
February 27: vs. Bucknell (5:30 PM)
February 28: vs. Bucknell (1:30 PM)
February 28: at Virginia (4:00 PM)
March 1: vs. Michigan (10:00 AM)
 
Men's Tennis
February 26: at San Diego (1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT)
February 26: Pacific Coast Doubles Championship
February 27: Pacific Coast Doubles Championship
February 28: Pacific Coast Doubles Championship
March 1: Pacific Coast Doubles Championship
March 1: vs. Ball State (6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT)
 
Men's Indoor Track & Field
February 27: BIG EAST Championships (2:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM CT)
February 28: BIG EAST Championships (12:40 PM ET / 11:40 AM CT)
 
Women's Indoor Track & Field
February 27: BIG EAST Championships (3:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM CT)
February 28: BIG EAST Championships (12:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM CT)
 
Water Polo
February 28: at Harvard (10:00 AM)
February 28: California Merced (1:00 PM)