PISCATAWAY, NJ. – The Villanova women's swimming and diving team suffers tough loss to Rutgers, 99-199, Saturday from the Rutgers Aquatic Center in Piscataway, NJ.
 
In a BIG EAST – BIG10 conference match up, the Wildcats fall to the Scarlet Knights, 99-199, for the second straight year.  
 
In the 200 butterfly, Villanova was able to pick up crucial points led by sophomore Katie White. The Lakeville, Ma. native tapped the wall first in 2:03.70 followed by freshmen Anna Farley (2:06.92) and Meghan Tiernan (2:07.75) in fourth and fifth respectfully. White also finished fourth in the 100 butterfly clocking 58.03.
 
Freshman Alyssa McHale and junior Lainey Quinones finished 1-2 in the 100 freestyle. McHale tapped the wall at 52.54 just ahead of Quinones' 52.79. Quinones recorded a trio of runner-up finishes in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and joined forces with graduate student Maggie Kleinsmith, senior Audrey Pastorek and sophomore Arabella Lee to finish in 1:45.7.
 
Veteran swimmer in Pastorek tallied a total of 14 points over the course of the one-day meet. The Savannah, Ga. native secured four top-three finishes with runner-up performances in the 100 backstroke (57.43) and 200 medley relay as well as third place finishes in the 200 backstroke (2:04.35) and 200 IM (2:08.60).
 
Freshman Martina Lonati had a solid outing picking up points in three events for Villanova. The Guglionesi, Italy native finished third in the 100 butterfly (57.84) and fourth in both the 100 freestyle (53.44) and 200 freestyle (1:54.76). Graduate student Lauryn Johnson also had a strong day in the pool in Piscataway. The Rockville Centre, NY native stormed to a second-place finish coming in at 1:53.88 in the 200 freestyle just ahead of senior Molly Benson (1:54.74) in third place.
 
The Wildcats closed out the day taking the top two spots in the 400 freestyle relay. The quartet of Johnson, Lonati, McHale, and Quinones combined to best the field clocking in at 3:30.36. The Villanova B team of senior Lexi Elkovitch, sophomore Mary Kate Farrell, freshman Carlota Colomer, and Benson finished runner-up to their teammates in 3:37.34. 
 
Sophomore Caroline Blankenbecler and freshman Alexa Fegley rounded out the top-five finishers in the diving events. Blankenbecler's performance earned a scored of 244.80 in 3-meter while Fegley scored 225.60 in the 1-meter competition.
 
The Villanova Swimming and Diving team is on the road again next weekend as the men take on WVU and the women compete against WVU and Iowa State in Morgantown, WV on Saturday January 27. Action from the pool deck will begin at 11 a.m. for the men and 4 p.m. for the women.

For all of the latest updates surrounding the program, follow Villanova Swimming and Diving on X, formally known as Twitter, and Instagram @novaswimdive.