MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's swimming and diving team fell to the University of South Dakota 140.5-102.5 Friday evening in its season opener.

In total, the Mavericks claimed the top finish in six of the 13 events on the evening, including a pair of relay events.

"We saw a lot of positive things happen in what was our first dual meet of the season", head coach Nathan Owens said. "We had a number of solid performances throughout the team. Our divers had a good night and have been training very hard and progressing nicely.

"I thought that our freshman did an excellent job competing in their first collegiate meet. The team as a whole has made a lot of progress since we started training in late August. It's good to start the next phase of our season which includes competitions from now until the end of the semester. Collectively, they're off to a great start and the coaches and I were all proud of their performance."

The quartet of sophomore Cecilia Hake, junior Carley LeDoux, sophomore Kylie Gaeth and junior Cheyenne Rova won the 200-yard medley relay event with a time of 1:49.63. MSU won the other relay event on the day as senior Samantha Rasmussen, sophomore Chelsea Calhoon, sophomore Taylor Bass and Gaeth turned in a time of 3:42.19 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.   

Bass would also turn in a pair of first place finishes in the 200-yard IM (2:13.89) and the 100-yard freestyle (55.43). Rova added a first place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.80, while Hake took the top finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.48.

Freshman diver Bailey DuPay took second place in the one-meter diving event with a score of 217.35, while freshman diver Hannah Guy finished second in the three-meter diving event with 213.80 points.

The Mavericks return to action Friday, Oct. 16, as they travel to UW-Eau Claire. The dual meet is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.
 
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