The University of Evansville swimming and diving team opens its 2009-2010 season with its Purple/Orange Meet Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Wyttenbach Pool. The meet is open to the public with free admission.

After weeks of practice, the Aces will finally meet competition other than their own teammates when they travel to Carbondale, Illinois, for the Open Water 5K on Saturday, October 3 at 9:00 a.m.

The upcoming season will bring a different setting for the men’s side, as the team joined the Mid-American Conference over the summer. Evansville head coach Rickey Perkins welcomed the change from the Sun Belt Conference as he feels that the MAC will give the team a more even playing field.

The men’s swimming and diving team returns a core group from last year’s squad, including seniors Derek Bifulco, Josh Fletcher, Austin Murphy and Brad Tipton. Perkins also expects a lot from the team’s juniors and sophomores. Junior Chris Nash and sophomores Bryan Hamann and Jake Harrington come back to UE with the ability to compete at a high level for the Aces.

In addition to the 16 returners from last season, the men’s team adds six newcomers to the program, including Alex Seward, Justin Shotwell and Kyle Tiemann. “I think those guys will make a huge step, and they already raise our level at practices,” Perkins said.

On the women’s side, experience will be key as the team returns most everybody from last year, and Perkins expects them to be very strong in competition.

Perkins said that he feels many of the women will compete for titles in their specialties this season, including junior Christina Schmidgalland sophomores Alex Howard and Hannah Quast. The head coach has already seen improvements from many returners like junior Annie Shackelford and team captain Nicole Lodewyk.

“We have a lot of girls who came back with a commitment, and that is only going to make us better as a team,” Perkins said.

The Purple Aces welcome seven freshmen to the women’s team who bring a lot of talent to the group. Perkins believes that Jill Enge, Phoebe Hodina and Michea Reinitz can help the team rise to another level. With these newcomers, Perkins feels that the team has the right combination for success with the mix of skilled returners and freshmen.