WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – In the first dual meet of the season, the Fairfield University women's swimming team posted a victory over Monmouth University (136-126) while the men's swimming team came up short against the Hawks (160-102).

Erini Pappas won three events to pace the Stags while teammates Alison Sposili and Sydney Scalise each earned a pair of victories. On the men's side, Joseph Stewart was a double winner with Alex Belfer and Jeff Vlass also touching the wall first. The men's 200 medley relay and the women's 400 free medley relay also took the top spot in those events.

"Today featured an extremely competitive meet with Monmouth with races coming down to the touch," Head Coach Anthony Bruno said. "Both teams had individuals win multiple events and relays. And many swimmers achieved in-season best times."

Pappas's triple win started with the 100 back when she finished the race with a time of 50.32, and followed up with firsts in the 200 back (2:04.48) and the 200 IM (2:09.38). Sposili held the top spot in the 100 breast and the 200 breast with times of 1:09.33 and 2:27.72 respectively. Scalise made the most of her races, winning the 200 free in 1:55.98 and the 500 free in 5:11.81.

Stewart was successful in the 1000 free as he finished the course with a time of 9:45.21 as well as the 500 free with a time of 4:45.52. Belfer completed the 50 free in 21.39 to take another first for the Fairfield men while Vlass did the same in the 200 breast (2:13.20).

The men's 200 medley relay beat all other entries (1:35.65) behind the efforts of Will Robinson, Chris Ford, Evan Fair, and Peter Gori. The women's 400 free relay also was a first-place finisher by combining for a time of 3:40.88 and was comprised by Sydney Scalise, Olivia Thompson, Maggie O'Donnell, and Ameila Sicignano.

Several Stags also moved into the program's top 10 all-time performances list led by Pappas in the 200 back (3^rd), 200 IM (6^th), and 100 back (6^th). Scalise also placed twice on the lists, moving into 10^th for the 100 free and ninth for the 200 free. Sposili also garnered the sixth slot on the 200 breast performance list.

For the men, Stewart's time in the 1000 free qualified as the 6^th best time for the Stags while Ed Hunt's 200 fly time of 1:57.36 took him to the 10^th spot on the Fairfield list.

The Fairfield University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will compete during the weekend of October 29-30. The Stags will travel to the College of the Holy Cross on the 29^th before returning home for a meet with Providence College on the 30^th.