PHILADELPHIA -- University of Delaware women’s rowing team will open up its 2010 spring season Saturday morning as the Blue Hens travel to take on host Saint Joseph’s and Colonial Athletic Association foe Drexel on the Schuylkill River.

The tri-meet, which will begin at 10 a.m., will be the first of seven competitions for the Blue Hens this spring. Delaware will travel to Villanova for an exhibition March 21 and will continue April 3 at the Murphy Cup at Philadelphia, April 10-11 at the Knecht Cup on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., Apr. 25 at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships at Fairfax, Va., May 1 at the ECAC Metro Championships at Newark, N.J., and May 7-8 at the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill.

Delaware head coach Laura Slice, now in her sixth season with the Blue Hens, welcomes back 24 letterwinners and five seniors from a squad that placed third at the CAA Championships.

The Hens are led by junior co-captains Meredith Rubin and Darra Finnerty and by two-time Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association second team All-Mid Atlantic Region selection Regine Adrien.