After a struggle in the south, the Northwestern women’s swimming team returned to Evanston with one win and one loss after a double dual meet against Auburn and Tennessee.

The No. 16 Wildcats lost to No. 3 Auburn 186-159 while dominating unranked Tennessee 234-118.

“I think that, in general, we swam real well,” NU head coach Jimmy Tierney said after the Saturday meet. “I think there is no question that we will get better and that we need to get better.”

Tierney said the team was tired coming out of its rigorous holiday training, but added that it did well considering the circumstances. He said the meet helped the Cats mentally prepare for future meets.

“We just got back from training in Miami and we’ve had a tough month, but I thought we did really well,” senior Ashley Wagner said.

In addition to the strong team performance, Tierney said several individuals who have had trouble this season performed well.

“It was good to see Vicky West sharp again,” Tierney said. “She struggled in a couple of meets.”

West, the team’s only individual winner at the meet, swam a season-best in the 1650-yard freestyle, placing first with a time of 16:49.30. She was followed by teammates Stephanie Cranston in second and Erica Rose in third.

“My goal is to be a little faster in the mile for Big Tens,” the sophomore West said. “I think I’ve moved up a few spots, which is good, but I would still like to be faster.”

West also received a second-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 4:55.18.

“It was definitely the best meet I’ve had all season,” West said, adding that the competition was also encouraging for the team. “There was a lot of team spirit on deck, a lot of cheering. We just seemed really close.”

Tierney said the divers, as well as swimmers, excelled in the meet, with Ashley Carter and Whitney Winters recording NU’s highest scores.

“Tennessee may have the best divers in the nation,” Tierney said. “Ashley and Whitney were very competitive. They responded well.”

At the same meet last year, the Cats lost to both Tennessee and Auburn, making this year’s split a little more enjoyable.

“Beating Tennessee was really good and gave us some confidence for the rest of the dual meets,” Wagner said.

Wagner also said the atmosphere of the meet was good, and she and fellow breaststroke specialist Brielle Bovee impressed Tierney.

“Ashley Wagner performed really well, particularly in the 200 breaststroke,” the coach said. “It was something to get her excited about and look forward to in Big Tens.”

Wagner said she felt good about her performance over the weekend because she swam times equivalent to her marks at the Georgia Invitational. Unlike the late-November meet, Wagner was coming off a month of hard training with little rest.

Although Auburn remained ahead of NU throughout the meet, Tennessee was no match for the Cats.

“We got a pretty hefty margin on Tennessee and kept that through the meet, so that was encouraging,” Tierney said.

The meet, composed of both a morning and an evening session, was swum by all three teams concurrently. The scores were then divided into three separate dual competitions between the pairs of teams.

The Cats, currently 2-2-1, will take on No. 18 Penn State on Jan. 19 in their last home meet of the season.