CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference women’s swimming & diving season kicks off on Saturday, Oct.4. Bowling Green and UMass will be the first two of the league’s nine teams to begin the 2025-26 campaign this weekend.

Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Akron, Ball State, and Miami will begin their respective schedules next weekend, Oct. 10-11. Buffalo will open its season on Saturday, Oct. 18, while Ohio has its first meet on Friday, Oct. 24.

The regular season will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 15, with the top six teams in the conference moving on to the postseason for the MAC Volleyball Tournament. This year’s championship format will be different from previous seasons, with the previous season’s regular season champion serving as host to the MAC’s top six teams. Bowling Green claimed the 2024 title and will be the host for the 2025 MAC Volleyball Championship on Nov. 21-23 at the Stroh Center.

Below is a team-by-team preview for the 2025 MAC Women’s Volleyball season.

Team-By-Team Previews (In Preseason Coaches’ Poll Predicted Order)
Akron Zips
The University of Akron Zips Swimming & Diving team was predicted to finish first in the 2025-26 Preseason Swimming & Diving Coaches Poll, the conference office announced Wednesday, October 1

The Zips are coming off their fourth consecutive MAC Championship and the 11th in the past 12 seasons after taking gold at the 2025 MAC Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., in March. The Blue and Gold also took home first-place at the CSCAA National Championships in Ocala, Fla.

Akron will begin the 2025-26 season by hosting the Zips Classic at the Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium from October 10-11.

The Zips will host the 2026 MAC Swimming & Diving Championship on Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 25-25 at the Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium.


Miami RedHawks
The Mid-American Conference released its preseason coaches' poll on Wednesday morning. The RedHawk women and the Ohio Bobcats were both picked to finish second out of nine women's teams in the conference.

The RedHawk women travel to Northwestern for their first meet of the season on Friday, Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. in Evanston, Ill. 

 
Ohio Bobcats
The Ohio swimming and diving team was selected to finish tied second in the 2025-26 Mid-American Conference Coaches Preseason Poll, as voted by the league's nine head coaches, the conference announced today (Oct. 1). Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Ohio finished last season with a second-place team finish at the MAC Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. Head coach Mason Norman was named the MAC Coach of the Year, which is the first time a coach has been named Coach of the Year since 2011.

Junior Zita Szoke was crowned MAC Champion in the 50, 100, and 200-yard freestyles and 200-yard medley relay. Senior Casadie DiBetta was also crowned champion in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke and the 200 and 400-yard medley relay. Szoke competed in the NCAA Championships, finishing in 11^th in the 100-yard freestyle, which is the highest finish from a Bobcat since 1995. Szoke earned All-American honors and is the first to do so since 2000.  Szoke, DiBetta, and senior Emily Ellsworth all return to the pool for the Bobcats after earning First Team All-MAC honors, and Senior Morgan Brown returns after earning All-MAC Second Team honors.

The Bobcats open the 2025-26 season with their Green and White Meet this Saturday, October 4^, at 10 a.m. ET at the Aquatic Center. Ohio opens the regular season competition Oct. 24-25 against Buffalo and Marshall in Athens. 


Buffalo Bulls
Preview coming soon…
 

Ball State. Cardinals
MUNCIE, Ind – The Ball State men's and women's swimming & diving programs open their 2025-26 seasons Oct. 11 at the Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiates, hosted by Purdue. The meet takes place at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center and begins at noon.

"This has been around eight weeks of preparation for the season," Head coach J. Agnew said. "Training without getting to race is hard, doing the brutal work without getting to see the results, so we're excited to unleash it and see what we can do."

Joining the Cardinals in the 11-team field are Butler (women), Evansville, Indiana Wesleyan, IU Indy, UIndy, Purdue, Rose-Hulman, Southern Indiana, Valparaiso, and Wabash (men).

Both sides last competed at the Indiana Intercollegiates at the opening of their 2023-24 campaigns.

The men turned in a third place showing out of 10 teams with 481 points, finishing behind Purdue (556.6) and IU Indy (536.5). The Cardinals clocked six top three finishes, including two individual event wins in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

"Our men's team is much better on top," Agnew stated. "We're a little smaller of a roster than we've had. Small, but mighty, so that's going to be cool to watch."

The women placed second overall in 2023 with 393 points, picking up three individual event wins. Ball State followed the hosting Boilermakers, who scored 854.5 to claim first. Payton Kelly took a pair first-place finishes in both the 50 (23.12) and 100 (50.82) freestyles, while Laura Wright captured an individual event win in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.07).

"The biggest thing about the women's team is depth," Agnew stated. "We've had good leadership on top, and now we have the depth this year to really make an impact, not just in the conference, but beyond that."


Eastern Michigan Eagles
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University swim and dive teams are set to open the 2025-26 season hosting Illinois State University and the University of Toledo for the Eastern Classic Friday-Saturday, Oct. 10-11, at Jones Natatorium.

Friday's portion of the meet will begin at 4 p.m., while Saturday will be split into multiple sessions, beginning at 10 a.m.

ENTERING YEAR SEVEN UNDER PERKINS
The program is entering its seventh year under Head Swimming Coach Derek Perkins. Overall, Perkins holds a 16-21 record, and 11-11 mark in Mid-American Conference (MAC) competition. The program has seen 82 Academic All-MAC selections and four College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America teams.

THE SEASON AHEAD
Eastern is set to compete in eight regular season meets in 2025-26, culminating in the MAC Championships, hosted by the University of Akron, at Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio, Feb. 25-28.

RETURNERS/NEWCOMERS
This year's Eagles team returns 18 athletes from the 2024-25 squad, and welcomes eight newcomers to the team, including junior transfer Marnie Howard, and freshmen Addison Burrough, Abbey Clarke, Marianna Fardella, Amelia Jones, Maize Moustgaard, Shayne Patrick, Nicole Shanks.

DIVING LEADER
On the boards, the Eastern squad is led by sophomore Megan Lupa, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in the platform dive, along with earning MAC Freshman Diver of the Year.

SWIMMING LEADERS
In the pool, the Eagles return junior Tristen Mina, who swam the No. 5 program time in the 100 butterfly (54.59), along with leading in the individual medley. Junior Nina Larosa, leads the team in the breaststroke, improving her program top 10 100y breaststroke time from No. 8 to No. 7 (1:02.62). Juniors Marlee Christie, and Emma Littrell, lead in the sprint free category, while sophomore Nehir Oz, leads in distance. Juniors Siporah Sang, and Azra Umut, lead in the backstroke events.

CAPTAINS
This year's squad is led by four captains. The three swim captains include Kudo, Sang, and junior Lucy Noble, while the divers are led by senior Cate Migliori.

MAC COACHES PRESEASON POLL
The Eagles' team was picked to finish sixth in the MAC standings for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.

UP NEXT
Next, the Eagles open MAC competition hosting The University of Akron Friday, Oct. 31, 4 p.m.


UMass Minutewomen
University of Massachusetts women's swimming and diving set to begin the 2025-26 season on Saturday, October 4, on the road against Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, at 12 p.m.

The upcoming season marks the 49th season for the program, with UMass holding an overall record of 247-215-2 (.532), and the second season under the leadership of head coach Maiya Otsuka. It also marks the first year in the Mid-American Conference for the Minutewomen.

New Faces
The Minutewomen return 19 members from last season's team, while adding five new members for the 2025-26 campaign.

The newcomers feature one junior transfer Ece Yildirim, and four freshmen in Kate Baranova, Elle Gray, Flora Klimesch and Anna McCarthy.

The 2024-25 Season
Massachusetts concluded its 2024-25 season at the Atlantic 10 Championships at the Hampton Aquaplex in Hampton, Virginia. The women placed seventh with a score of 284. A new program record and two medalists highlighted the four-day event for the women's team.

Kendall Gilbert made her mark in her debut season, breaking two freshman records and rewriting the program's history books. Gilbert posted a time of 1:02.97 in the 100 breaststroke to set a new freshman record. She also swam a time of 2:11.59 in the 200 breaststroke to not only secure a silver medal and break another freshman record, but to smash a previous program record held by Meriza Werenski (2013-14) to claim the top spot.

On the boards, Khrystyna Yaremyn took home the bronze medal in the three-meter dive with a six-dive total of 281.85.

Additionally, four Minutewomen divers competed in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, with Danielle Guerin, Salem Howes, Shreeya Sinha and Yaremyn all qualifying.

MAC Preseason Coaches Poll
In the recent MAC Women's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches Poll, the Minutewomen are projected to finish seventh, as announced by the league.

Massachusetts sits behind Akron at No. 1, Miami (OH) and Ohio tied at No. 2, Buffalo at No. 4, Ball State at No. 5 and Eastern Michigan at No. 6. UMass is followed by Bowling Green in eighth and Toledo in ninth.

2025-26 Season Schedule
After the first meet at Boston College on the road, UMass will remain on the road for the Justin Jennings Invitational (Oct. 10-11) and a scrimmage at Yale (Oct. 25). The Minutewomen host Boston University on Saturday, November 8, for their home opener at the Joseph R. Rogers Jr., Pool, before heading to Boston University for the annual Terrier Invitational (Nov. 21-23). UMass closes out the 2025 year with a dual meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, against host La Salle and Rhode Island.

The new year kicks off with a home meet against Bryant on January 5, followed by an away meet against UConn on January 10. The Minutewomen then gear up for the Tate Ramsden Invitational (Jan. 16-17) and welcome Fairfield to Amherst on January 24. The team then travels to Fordham (Jan. 31), before the divers finish the regular season at the Northeastern Diving Invitational (Feb. 7).

MAC Championships
The 2026 MAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will take place at the Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio, on Wednesday, February 25, through Saturday, February 28.

 
Bowling Green Falcons
The Bowling Green State University women's swimming and diving team enters year two under head coach Tanner Barton with momentum and confidence. After a season focused on laying a foundation, the Falcons return nearly their entire roster while adding depth and new energy both in the pool and on the boards.

"Year one was about laying the foundation and creating an environment where the ladies support one another and get after it every single day in training and when we're competing. We've established that culture. In year two, we're building on that culture. We're going to continue to build and move forward without having to reset and restart," Barton said.

The Falcons bring back several proven point-scorers alongside a strong freshman class. Barton highlighted Samia Becdach, who trained in Bowling Green over the summer and is expected to contribute across multiple freestyle events. Grace Bodrock, an A finalist in the 200 butterfly last season, will be relied upon in butterfly and freestyle, while Emily McNicol anchors the backstroke and relays. Newcomers include distance specialist Carol Toledo, sprinter Bella Treib, and breaststrokers Corine Rieskamp and Lauren Jablonski, who add immediate depth across multiple events.

On the diving side, Michael Retcher returns nearly his entire group after a historic campaign in which the Falcons scored their highest total at the MAC Championships. "Energy is high. We are bringing back almost everybody from last year, and we brought in two freshmen girls, and they're both very well accomplished divers. We are able to practice together a lot more than we have in the last few seasons," Retcher said.

Leading the divers is NCAA zone qualifier and finalist Natalia Mayorga, the first in program history to advance to tower finals. She is joined by veterans Elise Snyder, a multi-event MAC finalist, and Evie Long, who debuted in finals last year. Claire Warner narrowly missed a B final but returns as one of the team's most consistent performers, while Vicky Miller and two incoming freshmen, Sadie Dempz and Autumn Johnston, round out a unit that continues to raise its ceiling.

Both coaches stressed the importance of confidence and culture as Bowling Green looks to build on its progress in the MAC standings. "The confidence that we built last year is hopefully going to carry us into this season and beyond. So, I want our team not only be excited when racing, but I want our team to be excited and confident going into every single opportunity that we have," Barton said.

With more home meets on the schedule, the Falcons hope to see strong support from the Bowling Green community. "The sport of swimming and diving at the collegiate level is exciting. Anybody who's been in the swimming and diving world has sat in pools for hours and hours in these multi day, really long meets. The one thing that has always stuck with me in a college swim and dive meet is its energy," Retcher said.

Barton echoed the call. "We have a lot more home meets this year, and the meets are going to be fun. For those in the community, come out, support these Falcons in the water, and get excited to see them race and dive each month," he said.

 
Toledo Rockets
Friday, Oct. 10 – Saturday, Oct. 11 / at Eastern Classic / Ypsilanti, Mich.

Women's swimming and diving opens up the 2025-26 season at the Eastern Classic in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Rockets will be competing against Illinois State and Eastern Michigan at the two-day event. The meet will feature three sessions beginning on Friday evening, with sessions on Saturday morning and concluding Saturday evening. The team returns 13 letterwinners from last year's squad, including 2024-25 All-MAC Second Team honoree Leah Evans, and welcome nine newcomers to the fold.