Today, the Georgetown’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel to Piscataway, N.J., to compete against Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova in the Big East Quad Meet.

Rutgers hosts its second meet in a row, having beaten Wagner on Oct. 25. The combined efforts of the men’s and women’s teams led to their decisive victory, in which the Hoyas rackied up 181 points and the Seahawks only scored 119. Villanova, on the other hand, heads to Rutgers coming off losses on both the men’s and women’s sides against former Big East foe UConn on Nov. 2. Seton Hall arrives in Piscataway with an away win under its belt after beating Providence 175-118 on Nov. 2. Each of the three opponents have individual strengths that will pose strong competition for the Hoyas.

“Rutgers and Villanova are the strongest women’s teams, but really, all the teams are strong and will provide a good test,” Head Coach Jamie Holder said. “Rutgers seems to be stronger than last year. I know Villanova graduated a great class last year, but they are still very good, and Seton Hall also has a strong team and several very good freshmen.”

Georgetown has its own strengths as well. The team dominates in distance races, the butterfly and individual medleys, according to Holder. The senior captains on the men’s side, Christian Kilgore, Matthew Mandel and Josh Tucci, are all holding significant leadership roles, as are the senior captains of the women’s side, Allison Fulenwider and Michelle Konkoly. The 2013 season also consists of some notable freshmen in the mix for the Blue and Gray.

“We have a great freshman class all around but Molly Gaynor, Katie Duncalf and Sarah Grundman have really had an impact so far, and on the guy’s side, Evan Grey, Martin Vanin and David Chung have really stepped up so far,” Holder said.

Gaynor, Duncalf and Grundman each won two individual events apiece at the Boston College meet. Vanin joined forces with junior Michael Young, along with Kilgore and Mandel, to snatch up a first place victory in the 200-meter medley versus BC.

Competing with other Big East opponents is always an advantage for Georgetown. With the conference championships looming at the end of February, getting a feel for the largest threats in the Big East is extremely helpful for the Hoyas.

“It is a great opportunity to swim against Big East competition and gives us a chance to race some of the same teams we will at conference championships, so in that sense, it is significant,” Holder said. Though the team is looking ahead in this sense, the Blue and Gray strive to focus on each meet without being caught up with past meets or future competitions.

“It was good to get the win, but I think we are taking all of our competitions one at a time and just going to go out and give it our best each time out,” Holder said of the win against BC.

Georgetown will head to Rutgers with a motivated frame of mind, hoping to prove they can be competitive in the conference.

“[The meet] is just another stepping stone in our journey this season. I just want them to get up and race,” Holder said.

The races will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 8 and 10 a.m. on Nov. 9 in Piscataway, N.J.