Marshall vs. Duquesne
Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 • 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2023 • 11:00 a.m.
Towers Pool • Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
Take Your Mark … BEEP
- The Duquesne University swimming & diving team returns to Towers Pool for the first time this season, welcoming Marshall for a "Knockout" meet on Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 19.

- The Dukes are coming off a dominating performance in their season opener at the Richmond Duals last weekend. Duquesne took the title in Hampton, Virginia, tallying 782 points on day one before defeating Richmond in a dual meet format on day two, 161-138.

-  Accumulating 47 total medals in the two day event, Duquesne registered 23 medals on Friday, eight of them being gold, while tallying 24 on Saturday and nine being first-place finishes.

- Senior Haley Scholer paced the way with seven top-three finishes on the weekend, four of them being in first place. She was a member of the 400-yard medley relay team that took first (3:50.47) before ending the event with two more golds and a silver as she secured first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.65) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.69). Scholer also She took first in the 100-yard backstroke after touching the wall at 56.99.

- Senior Orla Egan participated in four events on Friday evening, earning herself a pair of medals. She finished first in the 500-yard freestyle by touching the wall at 5:06.65 before capturing a silver medal in the 400-yard IM, with a time of 4:31.31. She ended her day on Saturday taking the gold in the 1650-yard freestyle after recording a time of 17.41.37. She also took home a bronze in the 500 free after touching the wall at 5:14.02.

- Off the boards, junior Ashley Felitsky led the way with a pair of top three finishes, taking gold in the one-meter with a total score of 254.20 while securing silver in three-meter (241.05). On Saturday, took the gold with a total score of 268.05 while sophomore Lydia Redd (222.05) and freshman Brianne Dempsey (221.15) took the silver and bronze.

- Sophomore Lexi Sundgren registered three medals in three of the four events she competed in. While helping the Dukes take bronze in the 400 medley relay, she also took third in the 200-freestyle (1:53.68) and the 500-yard freestyle (5.11.65) on Friday. Sundgren also finished with a silver in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 1:54.76.

- After battling Marshall, the Dukes will be idle till November when the diving team travels to Clarion on Nov. 9 to take on the Golden Eagles inside Waldo S. Tippin Natatorium.

MARSHALL "KNOCKOUT" LINKS
- Meet Information / Order of Events
- Towers Pool

The Series vs. Marshall – The Thundering Herd comes to Pittsburgh for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign as they hold a 6-5 edge in the all-time series. The two squads battled in a tri-meet at Buffalo last season, with Marshall securing a 242-119 win. The 400-yard medley relay started things off on day two with Duquesne capturing the bronze. The team of Haley Scholer, Sydney Severini, Julia Sobun, and Lexi Sundgren registered a time of 3:54.45. The 1,000-yard freestyle followed as Orla Egan took the silver while posting a time of 10:34.11 as Aislinn Mooney touched the wall at 10:54.73. Egan also took part in the 200-yard IM where she registered a time of 2:11.11 to take fourth. Severini also competed in the event after carding a time of 2:13.89. The Duquesne diving team also took part at Buffalo with Ashley Felitsky competing in the one-meter and compiling a score of 231.15. Kendall Nigh also took part, posting a final score of 168.85. During day one, Felitsky carded a final score of 233.40 in the three-meet diving.

A-10 Weekly Accolades – Freshman Jess Burns was selected as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after her performance at the Richmond Duals, announced by the league office Tuesday. Burns, a native of Souderton, Pa., collected six medals in her NCAA Division I debut. During the first day, Burns tallied a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke by touching the wall at 2:21.42. As a member of the 400-yard medley relay, Burns swam the third leg and helped Duquesne finish third with a time of 3:55.33. The rookie also collected the bronze in the 50-yard breaststroke after posting a time of 30.61. On Saturday against the host Spiders, Burns tallied a trio of awards, two of them being first-place finishes. She took the top spot in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke while swimming the second leg of the 200-yard medley relay (1:46.60) in helping the Dukes take second in the event. Burns registered a time of 1:05.58 in the 100 breaststroke before touching the wall at 2:20.54 in the 200 breaststroke.

Preseason Poll - According to a poll of Atlantic 10 coaches, the Duquesne University swimming & diving team has been picked to finish fourth in the conference in 2024-25. The Dukes accumulated 89 points in the poll, with George Washington being selected as the preseason favorite with 10 first-place votes and 120 points. Richmond was tabbed second with one first-place vote and 105 total points, with Fordham (96), Duquesne, and Davidson (72) rounding out the top five. George Mason was selected to finish sixth, followed by Massachusetts and St. Bonaventure. La Salle, Rhode Island, and Saint Louis round out the poll.

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