The Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving dual match against Fordham Saturday served as a final tune-up heading into the Atlantic 10 tournament. The women’s team fell to Fordham 171-124 in the Joseph R. Rogers pool. It was their fourth dual match loss of the year. Junior Meriza Werenski won the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 10:39.37 and the 200 yard individual medley (2:07.70) making up the only victories the swimmers had in individual competition.

Despite a 27-point fourth quarter for the Massachusetts women’s basketball team, it suffered another disappointing conference loss Wednesday afternoon, marking its seventh straight defeat. Rhode Island fought off the late Minutewomen (6-13, 0-7 Atlantic 10) comeback just long enough to secure the 80-79 win in front of a hundreds of screaming children on their annual Field Trip Day at Mullins Center.

After falling to SLU 86-75, UMass head coach Derek Kellogg and leading scorer Trey Davis discuss the outcome of the game and plans for the team going forward. Philip Sanzo can be reached at psanzo@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Philip_Sanzo.

There are plenty of reasons to believe that both the Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will falter this coming weekend at the Dartmouth Invitational. Neither the Minutemen or women have competed in an invitational in two months, classes have started this week and despite the long, intense training, it’s been a while since they’ve had any competition against opposing schools.

With 12 weeks down and 12 to go, the Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have reached the midway point of their long seasons. Following a dominating performance in the Terrier Invitational where the Minutemen finished first out of seven schools, they will have over a month-long break from competition.

A month ago, an appearance in the NCAA tournament was something that did not seem all that feasible for this year’s Massachusetts field hockey team. Sitting at 6-7 freshly off a 1-0 loss to Saint Francis that brought its losing streak to three games, UMass was put in a position where winning out was its only real option if it wanted a shot at the big dance.

Still in the very early stages of the season, the Massachusetts swimming and diving team participated in a diving-only exhibition against Connecticut this past Saturday to get some competition before its regular season schedule picks up. UConn proved to be a tough opponent this early on in the diving season, taking first place in the women’s one-meter and three-meter and men’s one-meter and three-meter events.

For the fourth consecutive season the Massachusetts field hockey team has reached the Atlantic 10 finals following a comeback victory against Saint Joseph’s Friday afternoon. For much of the regular season, the Minutewomen (10-8, 5-3 A-10) did not seem at their best, especially on the offensive side.

Friday’s Atlantic-10 semifinal game against St. Joseph’s University will be the first obstacle the Massachusetts field hockey team will have to go through if they wish to be crowned conference champions. Though the Hawks (9-8, 5-3 A-10) possess the strongest offensive force in the A-10 with Anna Willocks, UMass is capable of distributing the weight equally amongst five impact offensive players.

With two out of its last three remaining games coming in conference play, the Massachusetts field hockey team has no other choice but to win out if it plans on playing in the Atlantic 10 tournament. The first of these two matchups begins Friday when La Salle (7-7, 3-3 A-10) comes to Amherst. The Minutewomen (7-8, 3-3 A-10) come off a set of weekend matches against Virginia Commonwealth and Boston College in which they played arguably their best field hockey all season, despite going 1-1.

On a day when the Massachusetts field hockey team’s two seniors were honored for Senior Day, a crowd of 537 fans packed a chilly Gladchuck Sports Complex and watched as UMass came up just short in a matchup against in-state rival Boston College. The Minutewomen (7-8, 3-3 Atlantic 10) fell to the No. 13 Eagles 3-2 Saturday afternoon in their sixth one-goal loss this season.

After an offensive meltdown and a series of upset losses to Atlantic 10 opponents this past weekend, the Massachusetts field hockey team finds itself in a situation where every conference game here on out is a “must win.”. Those were the words that head coach Carla Tagliente used to classify the remaining three conference games for UMass (6-7, 2-3 A-10).

In a game that Massachusetts field hockey coach Carla Tagliente said the Minutewomen played “flat,” UMass held on against Atlantic 10 cellar-dweller Saint Louis for the 3-2 victory Friday afternoon. “I’m disappointed in the group and I think they are disappointed in themselves as well,” Tagliente said following the narrow victory.

The final drill of Tuesday’s practice was minutes from commencing; the Massachusetts field hockey team was split up into two groups – maroon and white vs. grey and black. Leading the maroon and white team was junior forward Nicole Miller – animated in her actions, she quickly gave out directions to the five teammates attentively watching her orders.

After starting the season with four straight road games, splitting them 2-2, the Massachusetts field hockey team finally had the chance to show off its new home field against UMass Lowell Friday afternoon. In past years, UMass (3-2) shared its home turf with the men’s lacrosse team. But after summer renovations, Friday’s matinee marked the start of a new era for the Minutewomen.