The women’s swimming and diving team will look to make a splash in its season opener tonight at Casey Aquatics Center at 5 p.m. The Wolfpack will face off against Campbell and Gardner-Webb in the first meet of the season for the three teams.

After viewing a successful red-white scrimmage match, coach Brooks Teal said he thinks this year’s team looks promising.

“There were really a lot of solid swims in a lot of different places,” Teal said. “That gives me reason to believe we’re on the right track and it should be a year of improvement for the ladies.”

Among all of the strong performances in the red-white scrimmage, Teal was most impressed with the production of the 15 freshmen who make up roughly half of this year’s 29-member team. According to Teal, several transfers should also prove productive for the Pack this year, based on their performances in the scrimmage and in practice. He mentioned the productivity of a few of these freshmen stands out by name.

“Anna Linkenauger [in the] 200 back was outstanding,” Teal said. “Trish Dason in the 100 fly looked very strong. Sarah Merritt in the breast stroke looked very good. All of our divers look impressive and we’re expecting a lot from them, especially our three new divers. Two are freshmen. One is a transfer. Leeann Laing, a transfer, also looked very good.”

The freshmen will need to step up in the wake of losing several key members from last year’s team.

“We lost some important girls to graduation,” Teal said. “We lost an ACC Champion in Molly Culberson, and you definitely don’t step right in and replace that.”

Teal said his team will be tested and pushed against an improved Campbell team and a Gardner-Webb squad that boasts several impressive swimmers. The Pack, according to Teal, will get the chance to hone its skills and improve tonight in preparation for South Carolina on Jan. 13 and a tough ACC schedule. “Campbell is in about their fourth or fifth year of existence now and they have steadily gotten better,” Teal said. “Last year they had a couple of girls that could really get up and be competitive and we expect them to be another year improved. Gardner-Webb has some very elite young ladies that will push our ladies and help them prepare for the conference meets down the road.”