Little Rock, Ark. – A number of Lady Aces put up strong performances at Little Rock this afternoon, but the swimming and diving squad came up short against UALR.
 
UALR put up a final score of 177 points, with Evansville at 118.

"It was an okay meet. We were a little flat; not quite the performance we were hoping for coming in," UE head coach Rickey Perkins said.  "But we stayed together as a team. We have some things we need to work on when we get back home, but I'm proud of the way we stuck together as a team. At the end of the meet our spirits were still high, and the girls cheered for each other. That's what this is about, is for us to look each other in the eye and say 'I gave you the best I could have at this moment. So we'll go back home and get back to work and see what happens next week." 

Junior Danielle Freeman was the top scorer for the Aces this afternoon. She took victories in the 50 and 100 freestyle, touching in at 24.23 and 52.99 respectively. She took the top spot in the 50 buterfly as well at 26.39. Teammate Emma Hennessy followed closely behind for second place with a 26.58, with sophomore Kristen Myers in fourth place at 27.58. Freeman also teamed up with senior Michaela Kent, junior Kayla Aitken, and Myers to earn second place in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:49.42.
 
Kent had a strong meet once again as well. She clocked in at 26.80, well ahead of the 50 backstroke competition. Sophomore Sam Gowdy followed in third place with a 28.55. Kent won the 100 backstroke as well at 58.24, a solid 2.02 seconds ahead of second place. Gowdy once again followed suit in third place with a 1:00.78. In addition to the 200 Medley Relay, Kent closed the day out with the 200 Freestyle Relay. Her efforts combined with Hennessy, sophomore Madi Jones, and Gowdy took second place with a time of 1:39.52.
 
Junior Courtney Coverdale returned to the boards this afternoon. She took second in both 1-Meter and 3-Meter. Her score of 271.57 was a mere point and a half behind first place and was yet another NCAA Zones qualifying score. She scored 246.66 on the 3-Meter. Freshman Alyssa Vonder Haar earned fourth place on 1-Meter with 159.75. She took third in the 3-Meter with a 142.05. Junior Kasey Rein made her diving debut this afternoon on the 1-Meter. Her efforts scored 160.19 for third place.
 
Other notable performances from the Lady Aces were in the 200 freestyle. Freshman Kristy Kupfer took second place with a time of 1:57.93. She was followed by Madi Jones at a 1:58.36; junior Jessi Hildebrand came in fifth for a season best time of 2:03.41. Kupfer returned to take third in the 500 free with a 5:19.45, followed by freshman Ashton Adams in fourth at 5:29.91. Kayla Aitken then put up a season best of her own with a 1:10.41 and a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke.
 
The Aces continue competition with the men's team on Friday at Eastern Illinois.
           

• INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville swimming and diving, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsSWIM.

 

• DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com. 

 

• TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.