Photo Credit: Sally McCay
Season Outlook: Video/Text | Siena Meet Preview
Catamount All-Access | Photos (Flickr)

SWIMMING AND DIVING WEEKLY NOTEBOOK
The University of Vermont swimming and diving team returns to action on Saturday when it opens the home portion of its schedule against Siena, starting at 2 p.m. The Catamounts are 3-0 on the year after sweeping a four-team meet in the season opener at Army on October 9.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
SIENA: The Saints travel to Burlington with a 1-1 record on the year, after splitting in their opening meet. Siena defeated conference rival Niagara (186-110), while falling to New Hampshire (191.5-102.5). Freshman Britney Anderer broke the school record in the 100 breaststroke in her first meet, while Elizabeth Rice swept the diving events. Vermont has defeated Siena in each of the last four years.

LAST TIME OUT: Vermont opened the 2009-10 season on October 9, sweeping a four-team meet at Army. The Catamounts topped Boston College (159-141), Army (171-129) and Stony Brook (183-117) to start the season 3-0. Junior Kate Weaver paced Vermont with three wins. The Cats also got a pair of victories from senior Colleen Clark and freshman Kailey Gardner. UVM has now defeated Stony Brook in each of the last four years and Army in back-to-back seasons. The win over Boston College was also the first time that the Cats have defeated the Eagles in school history.

LEAGUE HONORS: Vermont swept the first America East weekly awards of the season as junior Kate Weaver was named the women’s swimmer of the week, while sophomore Lauren Colby took home diver of the week honors on October 12. Weaver paced Vermont with three wins, as she took first in the 200 IM (2:12.09) and the 100 (58.56) and 200 (2:06.63) backstroke events. This marks the sixth time that Weaver has taken home swimming performer of the week honors in her career. Vermont’s diver of the year as a freshman, Colby was the top Catamount finisher in the one-meter dive with a score of 195.70. She placed fourth overall in the event posting the top score among America East competitors. She and also placed eighth in the three-meter dive with a score of 173.40.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Catamounts have had success when competing in their home pool, posting a 14-5 record at Forbush Natatorium over the last four years. Vermont has won its last five home meets overall and three of its last four home openers.

BALANCED ATTACK: In the season opener the Catamounts received contributions from each class, as senior Colleen Clark won two events, junior Kate Weaver won three and freshman Kailey Gardner won a pair. Sophomores Avery Pittman and Caitlin Dowd also earned second place showings.

PRESEASON POLL: Vermont was picked to finished third in the 2009-10 America East Preseason Coaches’ Poll. After dethroning two-time champion UMBC, Boston University was voted the favorite to win the 2010 America East Swimming and Diving Championship by a narrow margin of one point in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Terriers received four first-place votes and tallied 34 points while UMBC garnered three first-place votes and came in second in the poll with 33 points. Vermont (24 points) came in third in the poll followed by New Hampshire (23), Stony Brook (15), Binghamton (11) and Maine (7). The 2010 America East Swimming and Diving Championships will be held on February 25-28 at the Boston University Aquatic Center in Boston.

AGAINST THE LEAGUE: Vermont went 4-1 against America East opponents during the regular season last year, as the Catamounts defeated New Hampshire, Maine, Binghamton and Stony Brook, while their only loss came at Boston University. With a win over Stony Brook in the opening meet of the year, Vermont has now won 11 of its last 14 against conference opponents.

EXTRA LAPS: The Catamounts are 3-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season … Vermont welcomes 14 freshmen to the team this season … Siena head coach Greg Brown was a swimmer at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. when Vermont’s Gerry Cournoyer was the head coach there … Vermont has opened the year at Army in each of the last three seasons and in those three meets Kate Weaver has recorded seven overall victories.

WHO’S NEXT: Following the Siena meet the Catamounts will travel to Vestal, N.Y. on October 31 to face a pair of America East opponents in Binghamton and Boston University starting at 1 p.m.

FOLLOW OR FRIEND THE CATAMOUNTS ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER: The UVM Athletic Department has a Facebook page. Click here to become a friend of the department to keep up with all the happenings in Catamount Country. Fans can also follow the Catamounts via Twitter. The department has a general Twitter account @UVMAthletics and the swimming and diving team also has a Twitter account @UVMSwimming. Follow @UVMAthletics for general news on the department and/or follow @UVMSwimming for more in-depth coverage of the team, including in-meet updates throughout the season.

CATAMOUNTS ALL-ACCESS: Visit the Catamounts All-Access page at UVMathletics.com for information on how to get results of your favorite Catamount teams minutes after the conclusion of the meet via a text message on your cell phone via eScores. The feature is available to anyone with a cell phone, regardless of cell phone service provider. Also, stay up-to-date with the Catamounts. Sign up for the Vermont Swimming and Diving eNews, offered free of charge by the Athletic Communications Office. Receive all the latest news and notes, as well as complete game summaries for every contest via your personal e-mail account. Catamounts All-Access also includes links to UVM's other social networking sites like Flickr and YouTube, Vermont's television schedule, live stats, live audio streaming and wallpaper for your computer.

PHOTO STORE: Catamount faithful can purchase athletic pictures at www.UVMathletics.com via the Vermont Photo Store. Pictures make great gifts for holidays, home wall art, or office decorations. Powered by Replay Photos, the website will feature pictures of all 18 sports, including meet action photos from the 2009-10 season once they become available.

GET YOUR GEAR: The UVM athletic department, in conjunction with TeamFanShop, has launched its first-ever merchandise and apparel store through the school's official athletic site at UVMathletics.com. The new online store includes hats, polo shirts, shorts, t-shirts, gifts and much more from several leading manufacturers.