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Saints Continue Hot Start, Stump Stags 146-101
Oct. 27, 2007
Loudonville, N.Y. - The Siena Women's Swimming and Diving team continued their strong start to the season by knocking off MAAC foe Fairfield (2-1, 1-1 MAAC) this afternoon 146-101 at the Siena Swim Center. With the victory, Siena (2-1, 2-0 MAAC) has already matched their conference win total from last season. The Saints took home first place finishes in nine of the eleven swimming events on the day. "I was really impressed with our performance today," noted Head Coach Greg Brown. "All of the girls stepped up and swam unbelievably." Freshmen Brittany Pavolko (Pittsfield, Mass./Pittsfield) and Caitlyn Biagioli (Kings Park, N.Y./St. Anthony's) paced the pool capturing two individual events a piece. Pavolko also made up part of the Saints 200 medley relay team which opened the afternoon with a first place showing. Pavolko's individual victories came in the 200 free (1:57.77) and 100 fly (:59.64) while Biagioli triumphed in the 200 IM (2:14.64) and the 100 free (:55.22). "We asked her (Pavolko) to swim a race that's not normally her event (200 free) and she stepped up and gave us a phenomenal performance," added Brown. Other first place finishers for the Saints included freshman Bethany Fried (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Sweet Home) in the 1000 free, freshman Bridget Rowland (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) in the 100 back, the team of Jacylyn Giunta, Veronica Cimilluca, Emma Walsh and Melanie Murray in the 200 free relay and senior tri-captain Megan Dobbins (Huntington, Conn./Lauralton Hall Academy) in the 50 free.
"It was great having her (Dobbins) back this week," said Brown. "She brought a lot of energy to the deck and swam a great 50 freestyle for us." Meanwhile the Stags nabbed individual victories in the 500 free with Katie Merz and the 100 breast with Liz Lawlor. Fairfield's Katie Yee took home first place finishes in both the 1M and 3M dives. After back-to-back seventh place finishes in the MAAC Championships the past two seasons, the Saints have come out strong to start the season. One week after beating MAAC rival Niagara for the first time in four years, the Saints victory today over the Stags was their first against their rival from the Nutmeg State since November 22, 2003. "We've come a long way with the program," reflected Brown. "We've done all the right things in the pool and the girls are taking in all the benefits of working hard." After a brief break, the Saints will return to competition Wednesday night for their first road meet of the season at Holy Cross. The first event will get underway at 7 p.m. |
