NORMAL, Ill.  –  Despite a strong performance from the women's swimming and diving squad, Illinois State prevailed to take the win this evening at Horton Pool.

The Aces scored 127.5 points to the Redbirds' 170.5.

"The women stepped up to the challenge tonight," said head coach Rickey Perkins. "They fought hard and never gave up. I am filled with pride and can't wait until we get to the MVC Championship."

Pacing the Aces for the meet was junior Danielle Freeman. She began her evening with a win in the 50 in a 24.11. The thrill of the evening, however, came in the form of the 100 freestyle. Freeman teamed up with senior Michaela Kent and sophomore Madi Jones to take the sweep with times of 52.70, 53.61, and 53.99 respectively. Kent would go on to take second place in the 100 backstroke with a 58.07.

Sophomore Kristen Myers put up impressive numbers tonight as well. She won the 200 butterfly handily with a final posting of 2:07.69.  She garnered another victory in the 100 butterfly in a 57.78. Teammate freshman Emma Hennessy followed at a 59.86 to take the second place position.

Freshman Aine Scholand showed consistency in her events; she earned second place in both the 1000 and 500 freestyle. Her 1000 time of 10:38.78 was a mere .04 seconds behind the winning time.

The Aces took one final victory in the 200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:37.98. Kent, Jones, Hennessy, and Freeman teamed up to defeat the Redbird A-Relay by a second and a half.

6-time MVC Diver of the Week Courtney Coverdale took to the boards tonight in her usual fashion. He score of 242.25 on 3-Meter took the win. Freshman Alyssa Vonder Haar took fifth place with 167.77. Coverdale earned 239.47 points on 1-Meter for another first place finish, while Vonder Haar took 5^th at 174.97 points and junior Kasey Rein took 6^th with 168.97.

The women return to Evansville with the rest of the weekend off; meanwhile the men travel north to Muncie tomorrow morning to take on Ball State. Both squads reunite on February 4^th with a duel meet at Southern Illinois.
 

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