Following a tough dual meet loss to Purdue last Friday, the Irish will look to bounce back in a road meet at Louisville on Saturday at the Ralph Wright Natorium.
The meet marks Notre Dame's third road meet in a row and the final one of the fall season before the Ohio State Invitational in December. If the Irish can salvage a win, they would finish 2-1 on the road.
One factor working against the Irish will be a 5-hour bus ride to Louisville on Saturday morning. While the Irish dominated Pittsburgh in a dual meet after arriving on a 6-hour bus ride the day of the meet, Louisville will pose a greater challenge.
Senior Fanny Lilliestrom is one of the Cardinals top swimmers, earning a victory along with an NCAA B-cut time in the 200-yard breaststroke in the Cardinals' loss to Tennessee.
In addition, Cardinals' junior diver Hannah Gadd will present a challenge. She earned a victory in the SMU Classic in the 1-meter diving event against top national competition, including No. 6 Texas and No. 7 Florida.
However, Notre Dame's diving team has proven strong in dual meets this season. The duo of freshman Allison Casareto and junior Jenny Chiang have placed first and second in all of the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events in Irish meets so far this season.
Both squads have a common win at Pittsburgh, as the Cardinals won by a score of 193-102 last Friday against the Panthers. However, Louisville dropped a meet to Tennessee and placed fourth out of eight squads in the difficult SMU Classic, which included three of the top 10 ranked swimming squads in the country.
The Irish hit the pool against the Cardinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. Following the meet, Notre Dame will not swim in competition again until Dec. 2 when it competes in the three-day Ohio State Invitational in Columbus.
Contact Matt Unger at munger3@nd.edu
