Women's Swimmimg Stages Impressive Rally To Edge LIU Post, 100-98, In Dual Meet Action

Brookville, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport women's swimming team rallied from a 27-point deficit halfway the meet to notch an impressive two-point, 100-98, road dual meet win over the host LIU Post Pioneers on Saturday afternoon on Long Island.  The Purple Knights sealed the win by taking first and third places in the final event of the day, the 200 Free Relay, which gave the team a total 13 points in that event.  

Senior captain Nina Stegu (Ljublijana, Slovenia) helped lead the Purple Knights to the victory on Saturday posting wins in the 100 and 200 Freestyles before staking the winning 200 Free Relay squad to a big early lead.  Newcomer Mariia Rezhylo (Kiev, Ukraine) posted victories in the 200 Fly and 100 Breaststroke before anchoring the winning relay after a short rest following her 100 Breaststroke triumph.

Freshman Diana Naglic (Muta, Slovenia) took second on the 1650 Free and came back from being six seconds behind to take first in the 500 Free by only .5 seconds in a race that help jumpstart the Purple Knights' comeback.  Diana also shined on the winning relay team.

Senior Clara Mico Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) parlayed a key win in the 200 IM with a big third place finish behind Stegu in the 100 free, plus she was another member of the winning relay team.  Classmate Amila Beganovic (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) was part of the third place 200 Medley Relay and grabbed a huge second place behind Mico Gonzalez in the 200 IM and a key third place in the 100 Breaststroke.

Taking points in every race was key on Saturday as evidenced by Renata Avendano  (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) outstanding fly leg in the medley relay, along with her third place in the 200 Free and second place finish in the 200 Fly.  Freshman Cassidi Teneyck (Big Flats, N.Y.) turned in a personal best time on the 100 back to help spur the UB team, as well as a third place finish by freshman Margo Koets (Minster-on-Sea, England) in the 1650 Free.

Head coach Richard "Doc" Ludemann also received key contributions from newcomers to the pool Brieanna Zine (Sr., Brockton, Mass.) and sophomore Gabrielle Kistner (Raleigh, N.C.) in Saturday's sprints, plus senior Lauryn Phadael (Yonkers, N.Y.) anchored the B final relay to lock up her team's comeback win.

The UB women's swimming team will next be in action at the Boston University Invitational beginning on Friday, November 16th.