Swim and dive action in California and Texas, a split of the conference slate for women’s volleyball and an important second-place team finish for the triathlon squad.
Here’s what happened last week in University of Denver athletics.
Swim and Dive
Both the men’s and women’s swim and dive squads were competing in their first meets of the season this past weekend, and both teams had solid showings at each competition.
On the men’s side, they competed in three dual meets against Grand Canyon University, Seattle University and California Baptist University on Friday and Saturday. Denver swept all three duels and jumped to a 3-0 start on the season in Riverside, California.
DU won eight events in total on the weekend, with four coming on each day. Sophomore Liam Simmons was a part of three of those event victories, including the men’s 100-meter back event, and the men’s 200 and 400-meter medley relay races.
On the women’s side, DU competed in the Rice Fall Splash Invitational in Houston, Texas on Friday and Saturday. Denver won several races over the three sessions but ultimately placed third to the University of Houston and Rice University in all three sessions.
In session one, DU had two individual race winners. Graduate student Erika Remington tied to win the 50-meter freestyle race while sophomore Ali Beay won the 50-meter backstroke race.
In session two, senior Ines Marin was the only first-place finisher for the Crimson and Gold and won the women’s 200 freestyle race by a slim 0.11 seconds.
In session three, Remington and Marin picked up their second race wins of the weekend. Remington and Marin won the same events they won from the previous sessions, and Marin improved her time from session two by 1.58 seconds.
Swim and dive action continues for both squads this week as both teams travel down the I-25 corridor to Air Force Academy for a dual on Friday. The men’s team will look to get a win over the Falcons after they were defeated 236.5-141.5 last January, while the women will look to dominate again after their 290-88 victory.
Men’s Golf
The men’s golf squad competed in their third Fall tournament this past week, this time traveling to Newton, Kansas to take part in the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational. The team shot an overall 6 strokes over and finished 12 out of 15 fielding teams.
Individually, freshman Jet Hernandez led the way on the scoreboard for DU, finishing tied for 27th with a one-under score. Junior John Williams was the next closest finisher, finishing in tied for 35th place with a score of two strokes over.
The squad will conclude the Fall tournament action next week in the beautiful state of Hawaii. The team will travel to Maui to take part in the Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate with action starting on Oct. 26 and concluding on Oct. 28.
Women’s Volleyball
Both of the women’s volleyball matches this week ended with the same score but different results. They were swept by Omaha Wednesday night but rebounded Saturday afternoon and swept South Dakota State.
Denver put up a good battle against the top Summit League opponent Omaha, but ultimately could not keep up with the Mavericks on both sides of the court. Omaha had 13 more kills and four more aces than the Crimson and the Gold.
Graduate outside hitter Cassie Davis led DU offensively with 11 kills and also tallied an ace in the contest. Redshirt freshman Briley Decker, fresh off her Summit League Peak Performance award from last week, led the entire match with 27 assists.
Saturday’s contest was a complete 180-degree turn as DU battled to a three-set sweep against the visiting Jackrabbits.
Senior libero Gianna Bartalo led the way defensively for DU, recording 16 digs in the contest. Davis had a match-high 15 kills and Decker also had a match-high 33 assists in the victory.
After splitting the conference slate and improving to 6-2 in conference action, Denver will head to North Dakota for two more Summit League matches against North Dakota on Thursday night and North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon. Both games are available to stream on the Summit League Network.
Men’s Soccer
DU men’s soccer picked up their second straight clean sheet Saturday night after defeating Western Illinois, 1-0, on the road. The team only allowed one shot on goal, which is the third time this season they have allowed one shot on goal or less.
Redshirt freshman Bryce Willoughby picked up his second goal of the season and the only goal in the match. Willoughby intercepted a ball going back to the goalkeeper, touched the ball around the defender and slotted the ball into the wide-open cage.
Sophomore goalkeeper Isaac Nehme was only called on to make one slow dribbling save during the contest but picked up his seventh shutout of the season. He also picked up his 17th career shutout, which moves him into tied for third place for most in program history.
The team remains at the top of the Summit League standings and will welcome third-place Omaha on Wednesday night at DU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff commences at 7 p.m., and the game is also available to stream on the Summit League Network.
Women’s Soccer
Denver women’s soccer remains lossless in Summit League play after they defeated Kansas City at home Thursday night, 1-0.
DU outshot the Roos by 17 and put 10 more shots on goal, which was the largest difference DU has collected all season. They also picked up 15 corners in the contest which is also a season high.
Freshman forward Michaela McGowan scored her first game-winner and her third overall of the season at the 35-minute mark. McGowan took a ball near the 18-yard box, dribbled once, and ripped a shot past the Kansas City goalkeeper into the back of the net.
The squad has one more week of regular season action and the team will travel to North Dakota to compete in two matches this week. They face North Dakota State on Thursday evening and North Dakota on Sunday afternoon. Both games are available to stream on the Summit League Network.
Women’s Tennis
DU women’s tennis traveled to California this past weekend to take part in the San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic and competed against three universities over three days.
Day one action was against both of the San Diego schools, USD and UCSD. DU did not pick up a doubles win in the two matches they played, but won three of the four singles matches they played. Junior Andrea Burguete Beltran, sophomore Louise Wikander and freshman Karsyn Evans each battled to a three-set victory over their San Diego opponents.
Day two was an improvement from day one, and the team picked up a doubles win against their opponent, Loyola Marymount University. Evans and Wikander combined to win their doubles match, 6-2. On the singles side, they again went 3-1 with Wikander and Beltran winning in straight sets.
Day three of the tournament was action against Navy and the team again split their two doubles matches. Beltran combined with graduate Britt Pursell to bagel (6-0) their opponent. On the singles side, Beltran, Wikander and Evans each defeated their Navy opponent in straight sets.
Overall in the tournament, the squad went 2-4 in doubles and 9-3 in singles matches.
DU’s next fall tournament is this week at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships. The team will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah and compete in five days of action with the goal to be crowned regional champions.
Women’s Triathlon
The No. 5 ranked DU triathlon team traveled to Smith Mountain Lake State Park in Virginia to take part in the Eastern Regional National Qualifier. DU competed against six other teams including the No.1 ranked team in the country, Queens University.
DU finished second as a team behind Queens in the qualifier and freshman Maira Carreau placed first out of 57 division one triathlon athletes.
Carreau competed in her second career race and finished 15 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Queen’s Beth Cook. Carreau had the fastest 5K split in school history at 17:06 along with the second fastest swim split in the 57-athlete field to lift her to her first collegiate victory. The Canada native is the first DU triathlon athlete in program history to place on the podium in her first two career races.
DU also placed two other athletes in the top 10 of the competition. Freshman Alex Campbell finished in fifth place and finished top 10 in each of the three splits of the race. Junior Olivia Ebenstein finished in ninth place in the D1 field and had the seventh-best bike split in the competition.
The next race for the DU triathlon team is the biggest one yet: the 2023 Collegiate National Championships. They will look to improve their team’s third-place finish from last year’s national championship in Tempe, Arizona on November 11.
