Women's Swimming & Diving Visits Ocean State Foe Rhode Island (Nov. 7; 11 a.m.)

Saturday, November 7

Kingston, R.I.

11:00 AM

University of New Hampshire

University of Rhode Island

Photo by: Greg Greene

Women's Swimming & Diving Visits Ocean State Foe Rhode Island (Nov. 7; 11 a.m.)

11/6/2015 10:54:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team competes in its last dual meet of the calendar year when it travels to face the University of Rhode Island on Saturday, Nov. 7 (11 a.m.) at Tootell Aquatics Center.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire's promising young talent was on full display in the team's 158-142 victory over Central Connecticut State University on Saturday, Oct. 31. Trailing for the majority of the meet, UNH roared back by capturing six of the last eight events to pull of the victory. The Wildcats seized 10 events overall against the Blue Devils.

Sophomore Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) led the way with three individual victories, including wins in the 100-yard backstroke (58.79 seconds), 200-yard backstroke (2:07.10) and the 100-yard butterfly (58.07). The sophomore was also the lead swimmer in the first-place 800-yard freestyle relay quartet (7:48.50). Meanwhile, sophomore Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) tallied three victories on the day with wins in the 100- (53.14) and 200-yard freestyle (1:55.42) events and was a member of the winning 800-yard freestyle squad. Freshman Brittany Driscoll (Wallingford, Conn.) also claimed a trio of wins against Central Connecticut. She accompanied Baykova on the triumphant 800-yard freestyle relay team and also notched a pair of individual wins in the 200-yard butterfly (2:09.28) and 400-yard IM (4:34.37). Another Wildcat rookie in Brittany Moffatt (Cedar Falls, Iowa) enjoyed success while grabbing two first-place finishes in the 500- (5:16.56) and 1,650-yard freestyle events (17:58.73).

The Wildcats look for their second straight win after claiming two victories in three meets so far this season.

SCOUTING RHODE ISLAND: The Rams started off their season with a loss to the University of Maine, 180-118, on Saturday, Oct. 24. Most recently, Rhode Island is coming off a 1-1 record in a tri-meet against Springfield College and the United States Coast Guard on Saturday, Oct. 31. Rhode Island fell to Springfield College by a score of 162-137 and defeated Coast Guard 209.5-89.5.

Sophomore Hannah Homans and freshman Eliza Anderson placed first and second in the 100-yard backstroke with times of 1:00.44 and 1:02.81, respectively. Homans also took first-place in the 200-yard backstroke finishing with a time of 2:11.85. URI notched a one-two finish in the 2000-yard butterfly. Junior Bridget Whalen finished in first place, parting the water for a time of 2:11.73 while junior Gabriela Gil placed second with a mark of 2:15.68. Another Ram duo secured a top-two finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Senior Caitlin Haggan placed first with a time of 54.46 while freshman Grace Kneller was not too far behind with a time of 54.72. The 2015-16 year marks Mick Westkott's 44rd season at the helm and his 39th as head coach of the women's team.

ENVELOPE PLEASE: Baykova has twice been tabbed to weekly awards this season. She earned the America East Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 20 for her performance against the University of Vermont on Oct. 17. She then merited the league's Swimmer of the Week award by CollegeSwimming.com on Oct. 28 for her efforts against Northeastern.

AMERICA EAST ELITE: Baykova and Harper occupy the top rank amongst America East swimmers in several events this season. Here is the breakdown and times in which New Hampshire swimmers pace the conference in each event:

Event	Swimmer	Time
50-yard freestyle	Liza Baykova	23.98
100-yard freestyle	Liza Baykova	51.39
200-yard freestyle	Liza Baykova	1:51.28
200-yard backstroke	Jessica Harper	2:03.30
100-yard butterfly	Jessica Harper	55.85
200-yard butterfly	Jessica Harper	2:03.12

ALL AROUND THE MAP AND ENDING IN DURHAM: The Wildcats' roster features swimmers from four countries. UNH has 16 student-athletes from the United States and representatives from Denmark, Germany and Russia. Baykova, who hails from Moscow, Russia, is farthest from home at 4,435.97 miles.

THE WILLMAN FILE: Head coach Josh Willman enters his 23rd season as head coach of the Wildcats for the 2015-16 campaign. Last season, he collected his 17^th Coach of the Year Award and guided UNH to its eighth conference championship in program history. Willman's success has established him as the most highly decorated coach in America East and been named the conference's Coach of the Year 13 times in the last 20 seasons (1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014). A 1984 graduate of the University of Miami (FL), Willman began his collegiate coaching career at UNH in 1991 as an assistant coach. He took over as head coach the next season and saw immediate success, collecting the first Coach of the Year honor of his distinguished career.

ON DECK: UNH is among a slew of schools that will be competing at the three-day Rutgers Invitational starting Friday, Nov. 20. The 'Cats return to the confines of Swasey Pool on Friday, Jan. 29 (5 p.m) against America East rival University of Maine.

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