Swimming & Diving returns to action next week in Southern California

FRESNO, Calif. – The Bulldog swimming & diving team opens the New Year with a trio of competitions next week in Southern California.

Fresno State competes in a quad dual on Monday in San Diego, facing host San Diego State as well as other MW foes New Mexico and Colorado State. The Bulldog swimmers will remain in San Diego for a dual against the University of San Diego (USD) next Saturday, Jan. 13, while the divers will head north to Los Angeles to compete in the Bruin Diving Invitational Jan. 12-14 at UCLA.

The 'Dogs last competed on Dec. 9, defeating CSU Bakersfield 194-99 in a home dual at the Aquatics Center. Fresno State dominated its valley rival with the top finisher in 13 of 14 swimming events and in both diving competitions. The Bulldogs defeated the Roadrunners for the third consecutive season while improving to 3-2 overall this year in dual meets.

Eight different Bulldog swimmers won races against the Roadrunners while three swimmers – Emily Niles, Emily Cutler, and Manuela Mendolicchio - as well as diver Serena Sedillo each won two events. Junior swimmer Ugne Mazutaityte and redshirt sophomore diver Irina Nikolaeva both missed the CSU Bakersfield meet.

The coming week of competition will be the team's final road events of the regular season before its home finale against San Jose State on Jan. 27. The events next week, especially the quad dual at San Diego State, will help get the 'Dogs ready for the MW Championships, which take place Feb. 14-17 in San Antonio, Texas.

Four of the 10 MW swimming & diving squads will face off in the pre-conference tune up on Monday. The 'Dogs have faced San Diego State already this season when they hosted the Chick-Fil-A Invitational. SDSU, which has won 22 consecutive dual meets, finished second in the five-team event, behind only No. 2 California, with 677 points. The Bulldog divers also competed against five SDSU divers at the Trojan Diving Invitational.

Fresno State will be facing New Mexico and Colorado State for the first time this year. Last season, Colorado State placed fifth, New Mexico was sixth, and Fresno State took seventh at the MW Championships. San Diego State finished in second place behind only Boise State.

The 'Dogs will be swimming at USD for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Bulldogs pulled out a 136-127 win over the Toreros with Mazutaityte and Mendolicchio each winning two events. The Bulldog divers also competed in the UCLA invitational last season while the swimmers were in San Diego.

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Swimming & Diving returns to action next week in Southern California

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Players Mentioned

Emily Cutler

Ugne Mazutaityte

Manuela Mendolicchio

Irina Nikolaeva

Emily Niles

Serena Sedillo

Fresno State Athletics