Both the men and the women's swimming and diving teams showed the Tennessee Volunteers why they deserve to be in the Top 10. The No. 9 men defeated No. 11 Tennessee 163.5-134.5, handing the Vols their first dual meet loss of the season. On the women's side, the No. 11 Cavaliers defeated No. 13 Tennessee 175.5-124.5. Both men's and women's teams have a 4-1 dual meet record. Read both press releases following the jump.
Women's Swimming & Diving
"That was an exceptionally good Tennessee team that we defeated," head coach Mark Bernardino said. "They swam very well. I like how our women were able to draw something out of themselves. We had to go deep into that emotional and physical well today to be able to compete with a team this solid."
The Cavaliers started off strong with a victory in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:39.77, an NCAA 'B' time. Christensen, sophomore Lauren Smart, senior Katherine McDonnell and Perdue comprised the winning squad.
Narum edged out Tennessee's Alek Akerfelds in the final lap of 1000 free to clock a winning time of 9:52.65. Katya Bachrouche placed third in 10:01.23. Narum, a senior, and Bachrouche, a junior, went on to place 1-2, respectively, in the 500 free. Narum clocked an NCAA 'B' time of 4:50.75 while Bachrouche touched in 4:53.68.
Christensen took top honors in the 100 back, finishing in 53.92, while Smart placed second in 54.33. Both were NCAA 'B' qualifying standards. Shaw claimed first place in the 200 fly (1:58.36,'B') while Claire Crippen took second (2:02.05). Shaw and Crippen also went 1-2, respectively, in the 200 IM, with Shaw finishing in a winning time of 2:01.95. Crippen touched at 2:03.10.
Perdue picked up her first individual win of the day in the 50 free (22.55, 'B') while teammate Hannah Davis placed third (23.41). Freshman Christine Olson also took top honors in the 200 breast (2:15.16, 'B') while Smart placed first in the 100 fly (54.77).
"Lauren Perdue has had a spectacular first year up to this point in time," Bernardino said. "Liz Shaw continues to swim really well and we had great leadership from our seniors; Kat McDonnell and Jen Narum both had good days."
Perdue earned her second individual win of the afternoon in the 100 free. She clocked an NCAA 'B' time of 49.14, while teammate Kelly Flynn took third (50.61). Christensen then claimed her second individual victory, touching first in the 200 back in 1:56.52, another NCAA 'B' standard.
Meredith Perdue led Virginia in the 200 free, finishing second in 1:49.91. McDonnell also paced the Cavaliers in the 100 breast, placing third in 1:03.31.
The Cavaliers finished strong with a win in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing in 3:19.69. Christensen, Flynn, Kristen Moores and Lauren Perdue comprised the victorious squad.
Virginia returns to action in a conference dual meet at Florida State on Thursday, Jan. 14. The meet is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Men's Swimming & Diving
"What I liked out of the men's meet was that I finally saw the intensity and the fire, and a team that respected one another," UVa head coach Mark Bernardino said. "Scot (Robison) obviously came up huge for us. A lot of our first-years had season-best performances today, so we saw a little bit of maturation from that class to go along with the most cohesive team effort we have had all year."
In the first event of the day, the 200 medley relay, Robison anchored the Cavaliers to a victory with a 50 free split and NCAA 'B' time of 19.48. The team of Eric Olesen, Simon Norstedt, Dan McMahon and Robison finished in a winning time of 1:30.28.
The Cavaliers continued its solid start, taking the top spot in the next three events. Smith won the 1000 free (9:12.19), John Azar won the 200 free (1:38.05, 'B') and Eric Olesen won the 100 back (48.96, 'B').
In the next event, Tennessee swept the 100 breast, to pull some momentum in its favor. But the Cavaliers were able to go 1-2 in the 200 fly before Robison claimed the 50 free (20.39) heading into the first diving break. McMahon won the 200 fly in 1:48.96 while freshman Matt Houser placed second in 1:50.43.
"Scot coming from behind in that relay really sent the tone for us," Bernardino said. "Taylor kept the ball rolling, John Azar jumped right in and won the 200, and we were able to gain a lot of momentum and a lot of energy."
Robison went on to win his second individual event of the day, claiming first-place honors in the 100 free (44.25, 'B'). Teammate Peter Geissinger finished second in 45.71.
The Cavaliers followed up the 100 free with another 1-2 performance in the 200 back, led by senior Daniel Johnson, who finished in 1:48.94. David Wren took second in 1:49.04.
After Azar took second in the 200 breast (2:01.00), Virginia went 1-2-3 in 500 free, led by Smith's winning time of 4:28.75. John Snawerdt (4:31.25) was second and Darren Ankosko (4:34.27) placed third.
In the 100 fly, Olesen (49.00) and McMahon (50.24) finished second and third, respectively, before Houser claimed a victory in the 200 IM (1:52.02).
The Cavalier men capped the day with a win in the 400 freestyle relay, with the team of Azar, Geissinger, Olesen and Robison finishing in 3:00.15, though the race was exhibitioned.
"Now we have to be able to stay healthy - that is critical," Bernardino said. "We have not been able to do that on the men's side. A lot of our athletes, all year long, have been out due to illness and injury. Hopefully we can get healthy; we are training at a high level and will continue to do that."
On the boards, sophomore Briggy Imbriglia paced Virginia with a second-place finish on the 3-meter (314.93) and a third-place performance on the 1-meter (299.77).
Virginia returns to action in a conference dual meet at Florida State on Thursday, Jan. 14. The meet is scheduled for 3 p.m.