Coach Jordan Cordry assigned her team one task ahead of Saturday’s competition.

Be louder than the Wildcats.

With this responsibility at its forefront, No. 22 UCLA swim and dive will get the chance to knock out Arizona on Saturday. Arizona, which will send both its men’s and women’s teams to compete against USC the day before, will bring a rowdy energy to the crowd at Spieker Aquatics Center as the men come solely to cheer on their female counterparts from the stands.

“It’s obviously a women’s team only meet, which means that there will be 25 loud Arizona men’s swimmers in the stands – because I will not let them on my pool deck,” Cordry said. “It’s our job to be louder than all 60 of them can be together.”

UCLA has embarked on a road-heavy schedule this season, hosting its only dual meet of the season Saturday. The schedule marks the Bruins’ first in more than 10 years with only one home dual meet, which provides less time to get comfortable competing at their home pool.

The Bruins have raced the Wildcats in nearly every season for the past 20 years. In the teams’ last 10 matchups, the record is split, with both programs taking five victories and five losses. But last season, UCLA defeated Arizona for the second-consecutive year, setting up the potential for a Bruin three-peat this weekend.

In 2022, UCLA hosted Arizona at home and won by over 50 points, outscoring the Wildcats by their largest margin since at least 1998.

“The last time we had them at home, that loud group was cheering really loud during the beginning of the first relay – that pissed our team off, so we whooped them in the first relay and shut them up,” Cordry said. “It’s always close, its always tight, it’s always back and forth. We’ve got this huge senior class to celebrate. It’s going to be a great day.”

Saturday’s meet will simultaneously be the team’s only opportunity for senior night. The Bruins’ roster homes 11 true seniors, including some of last year’s standouts in Paige MacEachern and Ana Jih-Schiff.

Jih-Schiff made a grand entrance into the Big Ten this year, earning UCLA’s first-ever Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honor following her performance at the Fresno State Invite in September.

“This senior class is really, really special,” Jih-Schiff said. “We’ve made such a huge impact in just three years, going into our fourth year, that it will be a really special one. We’ll throw up some really fast times, and if we have a lot fans, it will be even better. And a really emotional one, definitely some tears will be shed.”

While redshirt junior Gizem Guvenc will not leave the program this year, the 2024 Turkish Olympian entered the same year as this year’s graduating class. Guvenc redshirted the 2021-2022 season, granting her an additional year of NCAA eligibility.

On top of her goal of recording a national championship qualifying time in the 200-yard freestyle this weekend, Guvenc said the meet will be emotional for her.

“I’m going to be here for the next year too, and all of my senior team is going to leave me behind,” Guvenc said. “I’m going to be really upset because I’m going to be on my own, but I can do it.”

While balancing the desire to win and relishing in emotions can be difficult, the Bruins are lined up for the sink-or-swim challenge this weekend.

Competition against Arizona will commence 11 a.m. Saturday.