ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville swimming & diving team will return to action on Saturday when they take on Lenoir-Rhyne and Gardner-Webb at the Buncombe County Aquatic Center in Asheville. The action is scheduled to begin at noon.

Last Time Out – The Bulldogs dropped a 162-127 decision to Liberty last Friday at the Justice Center Pool. With the loss, Asheville’s record moves to 0-1-1 on the 2020-21 season.

New Diving Records Set – Highlighting last Friday’s meet for the Bulldogs were the dives from freshman Jade Canady. In her first collegiate meet, Canady broke both the school and freshman records in the one-meter dive not once but twice. The Huntersville, N.C. native broke it with a mark of 193.45 before topping herself with a score of 213.90 with her second dive.

Preview from Coach – “Gardner-Webb is a strong team and will be looking for payback from last year’s dual meet, when Asheville won in the final relay,” said UNC Asheville Head Coach Elizabeth Lykins. “Our team needs to match the intensity we know GWU will bring to Saturday’s pool deck. There’s sure to be some close races across the board between GWU, LRU, and UNC Asheville, our job is to get a Bulldog hand on the last wall first.”

How to Follow – Fans can follow the action via the Meet Mobile app or join the Facebook group streaming the meet.

About the Opponents – Saturday will be the first meet for Gardner-Webb this season. In 2019-20, GWU placed seventh at the 2020 CCSA Championships with 657 points. The Runnin’ Bulldogs figure to be led by Mary Traylor and Jessi Snover, who earned a CCSA Swimmer of the Week honor a season ago.

Lenoir-Rhyne will also open its 2020-21 season Saturday in Asheville. The Bears went 6-5 in dual meets last season and placed fifth at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships last February. Leading the Bears’ charge are the duo of Lisa Boernigen and Kimberly Scheiber, who qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championship last season.