Weekly Wrap: Villanova Announces Top Performers for the Week Ending January 11

New for the 2025-26 academic year, Villanova will announce its top performers from the previous week in a press release and social media post each Monday afternoon. The weekly wrap will recognize one standout student-athlete from each sport who competed during the previous week.

VILLANOVA, Pa.— A school record in women's shot put highlighted the first competition of 2026 for the track & field teams while women's basketball won a pair of conference games by a combined 47 points in a 2-0 week. Six teams competed during the period of January 5-11 and this week's spotlight is on seven standout student-athletes from the week just ended. The Villanova Athletics Weekly Wrap is sponsored by Zajac and Padilla.

Men's Basketball

Acaden Lewis, Freshman, Guard, Washington, D.C.

Lewis was named to this week's BIG EAST Honor Roll after he scored 20 points in consecutive outings against Creighton and Marquette last week. The two games mark his third and fourth 20-point efforts of the season, while Lewis totaled 15 assists, six rebounds and three steals for the week. He had all three steals against Creighton before helping the Wildcats tally a road win at Marquette with 20 points and eight assists on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor.

Women's Basketball

Kelsey Joens, Junior, Guard, Iowa City, Iowa

Joens was on target from three-point range in two games last week, going 8-of-14 from long distance and totaling 29 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. Villanova rebounded from its first loss in the BIG EAST schedule to post wins over Xavier at home and Providence on the road. Joens had a season-high 18 points on 6-of-10 three-point shooting in a 67-50 victory over the Musketeers before chipping in 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting (2-of-4 three-pointers) against the Friars.

Men's Swimming & Diving

Justin Nowicki, Junior, IM/Free, Victor, N.Y.

Nowicki competed in three individual events in a dual meet at No. 12 Florida State and came away with a pair of third-place finishes. Those results came in the 200 fly where he posted a time of 1:49.68 and the 500 free in which he touched the wall in 4:37.83. Nowicki's final event of the day was the 100 yard individual medley where he and freshman teammate Max Kunisaki tied for fourth place with identical times of 52.76.

Women's Swimming & Diving

Anna Farley, Junior, Fly/IM, Edina, Minn.

Against the best competition that Villanova has faced to this point in the season, Farley was a double winner in a dual meet against No. 12 Florida State last week. She kicked off the 2026 calendar year with wins in the 200 fly (1:59.10) and the 100 fly (53.58). Farley was the only one of eight competitors in the 200 fly to break two minutes and she combined with teammate Meghan Tiernan for a 1-2 finish in the event.

Men's Indoor Track & Field

Yianni Papanikolas, Freshman, Throws, Toms River, N.J.

It was a successful collegiate debut for Papanikolas on Saturday afternoon as he came in third in the shot put with a throw of 15.23 meters at the Penn Select meet. Papanikolas recorded the mark on his sixth and final throw of the day to move into the top three in the event standings. He ranks fourth on the BIG EAST performance list through the early weeks of the indoor season.

Women's Indoor Track & Field

Maria Deaviz, Graduate, Throws, Souderton, Pa.

Deaviz made her Wildcats debut a memorable one at the Penn Select meet when she set a school record in the shot put on her very first throw in a Villanova singlet. Her mark was 16.15 meters and eclipsed the previous school standard of 15.50 meters which had stood for nearly four years. Deaviz took over the BIG EAST lead for the season and ranks 11th on the Division I national list through the end of the weekend.

Women's Cross Country

Zoe Mosher, First Year, Pleasantville, N.S.

Mosher represented her native Canada on a world stage this past weekend when she competed at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla. She ran in the U20 Women's race and posted a time of 22:14 over 6,000 meters. Mosher finished fifth in the Team Canada lineup and was a team scorer as Canada came in sixth out of 10 countries in the U20 Women's race. In the lead-up to the world championships, Mosher had finished fifth in the U20 Women's Race at the Athletics Canada Canadian Cross Country Championships in November.

Villanova Performers of the Week for January 5-11 Sport Name Class Position Hometown Men's Basketball Acaden Lewis Freshman Guard Washington, D.C. Women's Basketball Kelsey Joens Junior Guard Iowa City, Iowa Men's Swimming & Diving Justin Nowicki Junior IM/Free Victor, N.Y. Women's Swimming & Diving Anna Farley Junior Fly/IM Edina, Minn. Men's Indoor Track & Field Yianni Papanikolas Freshman Throws Toms River, N.J. Women's Indoor Track & Field Maria Deaviz Graduate Throws Souderton, Pa. Women's Cross Country Zoe Mosher First Year Pleasantville, N.S.

Villanova Athletics Scoreboard

January 5-11

Tuesday, January 6

Women's Swimming & Diving: No. 12 Florida State 205, Villanova 114

Men's Swimming & Diving: Florida State 261, Villanova 58

Wednesday, January 7

Men's Basketball: Creighton 76, Villanova 72

Women's Swimming & Diving: Villanova 161, North Florida 93

Men's Swimming & Diving: North Florida (non-scoring meet)

Thursday, January 8

Women's Basketball: Villanova 67, Xavier 50

Saturday, January 10

Men's Basketball: Villanova 76, Marquette 73

Men's Indoor Track & Field: Penn Select (no team scoring)

Women's Indoor Track & Field: Penn Select (no team scoring)

Women's Cross Country: World Athletics Cross Country Championships (Zoe Mosher, Team Canada)

Sunday, January 11

Women's Basketball: Villanova 85, Providence 55

This Week's Schedule

January 12-18

Tuesday, January 13

6:30 PM: Men's Basketball at Providence

Thursday, January 15

7:00 PM: Women's Basketball at Connecticut

Friday, January 16

11:00 AM: Women's Swimming & Diving vs. Richmond (diving events)

2:00 PM: Women's Swimming & Diving vs. Richmond (swimming events)

Saturday, January 17

11:00 AM: Women's Swimming & Diving vs. James Madison (diving events)

8:00 PM: Men's Basketball vs. St. John's (Xfinity Mobile Arena)

10:00 AM: Women's Indoor Track & Field at Nittany Lion Challenge (University Park, Pa.)

11:30 AM: Women's Indoor Track & Field at Quaker Invitational (Philadelphia, Pa.)

12:00 PM: Men's Indoor Track & Field at Nittany Lion Challenge (University Park, Pa.)

1:00 PM: Men's Indoor Track & Field at Quaker Invitational (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Sunday, January 18

2:00 PM: Women's Basketball vs. Butler

12:00 PM: Women's Tennis at Penn State

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