The University of Evansville swimming and diving teams hit the road again to compete in a full weekend at Ball State University. The Aces will take on the Cardinals in a dual meet on Friday at 6:00 p.m. before competing in the Ball State Relay Invitational on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

“I want us to come out and be competitive against Ball State,” said head coach Rickey Perkins. “For the men, we will see Ball State again in the Mid-American Conference, so I want us to show them that we’re ready to compete and hopefully even build a little bit of a rivalry with them.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the women as well,” Perkins continues. “It’s always good to swim against somebody new and different, and hopefully we will gain some experience with this meet.”

Last weekend, the women took nine first place finishes while walking away with a perfect 3-0 showing at the Butler Invitational. Vectren Student-Athlete of the Week senior Christina Schmidgall won all three of her events, while freshman Melissa Thurman took two first place finishes to mark her collegiate debut.

The men posted wins over Valparaiso and IUPUI but fell short against Saint Louis University to end with a 2-1 record on the weekend. Sophomore Alex Seward and senior diver Andy Balczo both ended with first place finishes. The 400-free relay team consisting of senior Chris Nash, junior Jake Harrington and sophomores Kyle Tiemann and Seward finished in first place in the meet’s final event.