HAYWARD, Calif.- The Pacific women's swimming team battled tough in its season debut on the road against Cal State East Bay. While the Tigers fought valiantly, it was the Pioneers that had the edge in their home pool, 149-113.
 
The women earned six first place finishes of the 14 events hosted on Saturday afternoon. Pacific first found the top of the podium in the 1000 free with a one-two punch. Sophomore Diana Chan earned the top finish with a time of 10:57.93, where she bested the nearest Pioneer by nearly seven seconds. Junior Jordyn Gonzales followed suit, with a time of 11:00.93.
 
Junior Jadyn Phillips added another nine points to Pacific's total, edging out CSU East Bay by nearly half a second in the 200 free with a time of 1:57.99. She later claimed the top spot in the 500 free by nearly four seconds, coming in at 5:19.92.
 
Junior Paige Sondgeroth stormed to a first-place finish for the Tigers in the 100 breast, swimming a 1:07.30 to beat the next best by 3.5 seconds. Sondgeroth returned later for the 200 breast and pulled off the same feat, besting a Pioneer by 3.5 seconds. She finished with a 2:28.01
 
Junior Noemi Melendez took the 200 fly final by nearly half a second en route to a first place finish with a time of 2:13.68.
 
"This year, this meet is going to be more of a challenge," head coach Katelyne Herrington shared earlier this week, "but the girls raced and gave their best effort today with our limited roster going into the meet." She added, "We had some stand out swims today, but fell short with some gaps due to injuries and illness. This next month, we need to focus on doing what we can to stay healthy." The difference fell in the remaining finishes, as East Bay's' score total was built on 24 total top-three finishes. Pacific came away with 18. 
 
The women got off to an early start and now have some time until their next dual at the end of October. The first home dual comes on Friday, October 27 at 3 p.m. against UC Santa Cruz.