Tennessee Secures Sweep Over Louisville to Jumpstart Weekend College Action
Getting a one-day jump on the rest of the country, Tennessee and Louisville battled in dual-meet action on Thursday, with the Volunteers claiming a sweep. The Tennessee men topped the Cardinals, 158-142, while the Tennessee women cruised to a 176-107 triumph.
Tennesse Press Release
Tennessee swimming & diving picked up a pair of ranked victories Thursday against Louisville, including a top-10 win by the men, at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center. The 17th-ranked Vols bested No. 7 Louisville in a tight 158-142 meet, while the No. 7 Lady Vols beat the 13th-ranked Cardinals 176-107. Tennessee posted seven meet records on the day to help fuel the strong performances from both squads.
“I thought our team did a great job of carrying lessons from our NC State competition into training this week and then applying them at this meet,” director of swimming & diving Matt Kredich said. “I think I was most impressed with the way that our men have handled really high-level competition for the last two meets. We swam against two of the best teams in the country and showed a tremendous amount of fight and courage and attitude of expecting to win. That is a tough thing to do in this sport when we are ranked by times, and we know who we are competing against and know what they have been able to do.
“I’m really impressed by what our associate coaches have been able to do with the teams so far this season. I think Rich Murphy did a phenomenal job of preparing the men and their mindset going into both of these meets, so it was really nice to see that rewarded. I think Ashley Jahn has done a tremendous job shepherding a large group of strong and talented women through a couple of challenging meets. We are getting more limited opportunities to compete, but after both of these meets, I think our competitive identity is starting to become clear. I am excited about what I see.”
In a tight meet on the men’s side, the Vols used a strong effort in the breaststroke to help secure the victory. In the 100 breast, UT swept the podium by taking first, second and third. Michael Houlie had the fastest time and a meet record at 52.53, while Jarel Dillard (52.93) and Lyubomir Epitropov (54.05) followed suit. Epitropov came back later and won the 200 breast, touching the wall in 1:55.97. Dillard, the reigning SEC Male Swimmer of the Week, finished second in the event with a mark of 1:57.56.
Kayky Mota pulled out the win in the 100 butterfly, posting the fastest time at 46.54. He also took second in the 200 fly with a mark of 1:46.06, as the Vols scored nine points total in the event with Gus Rothrock (1:48.60) and Joel Giraudeau (1:49.03) placing third and fourth, respectively. Rothrock also notched top-three finishes in the 200 IM (2nd/1:48.82) and the 200 back (3rd/1:48.53). Harrison Lierz had the second-fastest times in the 100 back (48.85) and 200 back (1:46.78) and finished third in the 200 IM (1:51.05). Tennessee’s nine points scored in the individual medley race sealed the victory for the Vols.
In the freestyle, Rafael Ponce de Leon Castilla took the top time in the 1000 free, touching the wall in 9:08.29. Jordan Crooks placed second in the 50 free with a mark of 20.21, while Scott Scanlon took third (20.22). The Vols split second in the 100 free, with Crooks and Micah Chambers both recording a time of 44.51.
“Today’s meet was a good foundational win for us in terms of what is to come,” Murphy said. “We took our lumps at NC State, and I think we really came out sharper today as a result. Coming out of the first event, Louisville was the NCAA champion in the 200 medley relay last year so, to get that win at the start of the meet was really significant and gave our guys a lot of confidence. Then, Rafael backed it up with a win in the 1000 free, and it gave our guys a lot of trust that we were prepared and ready to go today.
“It was a full team effort. There were outstanding swims across the board, highlighted by Houlie in the 100 breaststroke, Lyubomir in the 200 breaststroke and Kayky in the 100 fly. Those are guys that have NCAA-level experience, we rely on them for confidence and demonstration of racing effort so our younger guys can really borrow and learn from what our older guys doing. When you are competing really well, it has a contagious effect on the team and so we benefitted from that quite a bit today.”
SEC Divers of the Week Bryden Hattie and Grace Cable continued their hot start to the season, posting the top scores on both of the springboards for the third meet in a row. Hattie notched his highest mark on the 3-meter during a dual meet with a score of 401.70. He helped the Vols sweep the 1-meter behind a score of 323.10. Cable’s successful day came from marks of 292.28 on the 1-meter and 312.90 on the 3-meter.
Dillon Richardson took second on the 1-meter (303.75) and was third on 3-meter (333.45), while Jacob Reasor placed third (291.23) and fourth (297.45), respectively. Emily Ann Wolfson recorded the second-highest score on the 1-meter at 246.30, while Maddie Reese finished second on the 3-meter with a score of 285.53, an NCAA Zone Championships qualifying mark.
“It was a shame that Louisville was a little depleted on the boards,” diving coach Dave Parrington said. “Bryden, especially on the 3-meter, was exceptional today. He has never gotten over 400 during a dual meet before, so that was a fantastic thing to see. At this time of year, it is really encouraging to see that high of a score. On the 1-meter, he was also really consistent. Jake and Dillon were really strong all day long. They did some really good stuff. Dillon got a good score on both boards, and Jake keeps knocking on that door.
“On the women’s side, I’m very impressed with Grace’s performance, and again was a double winner. She is getting a little better each time, which is our goal. Sometimes, the scores do not show that. We got a little bit better today because the scoring was tight. I am really happy with Maddie getting her zone-qualifying score on the 3-meter, so she is now qualified for the NCAA Zone meet which is really pleasing. The others were also solid. We need to clean up some things, but really happy with our overall performance.”
Reigning SEC Female Freshman of the Week Julia Mrozinski posted another strong showing, winning the 200 free (1:46.76) and 500 free (4:49.25). The Lady Vols dominated the 500 free, taking the top four times in the event. Kristen Stege, who won the 1000 free with a time of 9:50.43, finished second, while Aly Breslin and Kate McCarville followed behind. Jasmine Rumley brought home the win in the 50 free behind a 22.81 mark.
Mona McSharry, the reigning SEC Female Swimmer of the Week, swept the breaststroke events with meet-record performances, recording times of 59.77 in the 100 and 2:10.19 in the 200 breast. Alexis Yager finished second in both events with marks of 1:01.78 and 2:12.18.
Yager notched the top time in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 1:59.17. The Lady Vols posted the time four marks in the event, with Sara Stotler (2:01.17), Summer Smith (2:01.51) and Danika Katzer (2:02.53) following behind.
In the butterfly events, Trude Rothrock posted the fastest mark in the 100 fly, finishing in 53.00, while Stotler won the 200 fly with a time of 1:58.37. The Lady Vols narrowly missed sweeping the top three spots in both backstroke competitions. Josephine Fuller (54.32) and Olivia Harper (54.64) finished first and second, respectively, in the 100 back. UT swept the podium in the 200 back, with Smith posting a first-place finish with a time of 1:55.95, while Bayley Stewart (1:57.16) and Fuller (1:57.47) were second and third.
“It was a really good performance from both teams today,” Jahn said. “Louisville is incredibly competitive. They have a wonderful roster, so it is always great to compete against them. You have to compete well to beat a team like Louisville, so I am really glad to be back in action with them in the fall. We really missed that last year. We did really well, and it was a great meet all around.”
Tennessee kicked off the meet with a bang in both the men’s and women’s 200 medley relays. The Vols squad of Lierz, Houlie, Mota and Scanlon won the event with a time of 1:26.78, which was a meet record. The Lady Vols lineup of Harper, McSharry, Mallory Beil and Rumley took first with a meet-record time of 1:38.78. UT also took second in the race with a time of 1:40.35 from Fuller, Tjasa Pintar, Emma Carlton and Natalie Ungaretti.
In the 400 freestyle relay, the Lady Vols notched the top time with a mark of 3:19.70 from Rumley, Brooklyn Douthwright, Mrozinski and Pintar. The men took second behind a 2:57.12 time from Crooks, Chambers, Will Jackson and Seth Thompson-Bailey.
“We have now tested ourselves in competition and that has given us a clear idea of what our next steps are” Kredich said. “We talk to the team every day about taking the next step forward; whatever that is for each person can be different. For the team, we have themes so the next phase of training for us is really about facing the things we need to do to get better and meeting them head on and then being able to apply them under the pressure of competition against Kentucky and then at the Tennessee Invitational.”
Up next, Tennessee swimming & diving will hit the road to take on SEC foe Kentucky in Lexington on Friday, November 5. The meet will begin at 2 p.m. ET. The Vols and Lady Vols will then return home for the annual Tennessee Invitational, which will feature some of the top teams in the country, on November 18-20.
Louisville Press Release
The No. 7/13 University of Louisville swimming and diving team fell to No. 17/7 Tennessee in a dual meet Thursday afternoon in Knoxville. The Louisville men fell 158-142 and the women fell 176-107.
The men got strong performances from freshman Murilo Sartori, who won the 200 free, the 100 free and was part of the 400 Free Relay team. Super senior Nicolas Albiero won the 200 fly, the 200 back and the 400 Free Relay. Sprint specialist Haridi Sameh won the 50 free and was part of the 400 Free Relay. For the women, Arina Openysheva won the 100 freestyle.
The 200 medley relay foursome of Tristen Ulett (25.61), Mariia Astashkina (28.28), Christiana Regenauer (23.86) and Gabi Albiero (22.53) combined forces to go 1:40.38 to touch third in the opening event. UT’s A relay won in 1:38.78). The men finished second on their side in the event with Mitchell Whyte (22.35), Tanner Cummings (25.46), Dalton Lowe (20.85) and Haridi Sameh (19.79) went 1:28.45. UT’s relay won in 1:26.78.
For the Cardinals, Liberty Williams finished second in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:08.83 with teammate Maria Sumida touching third in 10:14.17. The event was won by UT’s Kristen Stege’s 9:50.43. On the men’s side, Ilia Sibirtsev was second in 9:15.21 followed by Hayden Curley’s third place finish of 9:18.64. UT’s Rafael Ponce de Leon won in 9:08.29.
In the 200 free, Louisville’s Sartori put the first win on the board for the Cardinals with a time of 1:36.02 with Colton Paulson touching second in 1:37.36 and Michael Eastman touching fourth in 1:39.65. On the women’s side, UT’s Julia Mrozinski won with a time 1:46.76 with Louisville’s Arina Openysheva touching second in 1:47.19. Diana Dunn took fifth place with a time of 1:49.16.
The Cardinal men won the 100 back with Mitchell Whyte putting up the fastest time with a 48.52. Jack Wever was second (49.02) and Nikos Sofianidis was fourth in 49.25. In the women’s 100 back, UT’s Josephine Fuller was first in 54.32 with Tatiana Salcutan’s 55.15 being good for third place. Cardinal Fernanda Celidonio was sixth with a time of 56.90.
In the 100 breast, Mariia Astashkina was the top Cardinal with a third-place time of 1:02.58 just out-touching her teammate Adeline Farrington, who put up a 1:02.88. The event was won by UT’s Mona McSherry, who went 59.77 as the only swimmer under a minute. In the men’s race, Aidan Kreiley was the top finisher for the Cardinals when he touched fifth with a time of 57.02.
Nicolas Albiero won the 200 butterfly for the Cardinals with a 1:44.50, almost two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Teammate Daniel Sos was fifth with a time of 1:48.78. The Cards were second in the women’s 200 butterfly when Tristen Ulett boarded a 1:59.28 for second place. Alena Kraus was fourth with a 2:00.33.
Gabi Albiero was second (22.98) and Christiana Regenauer was third (22.99) in the 50 freestyle in a tightly contested finish. UT’s Jasmine Rumley took first with a 22.81. Haridi Sameh won the men’s 50 freestyle with a 19.88, the only swimmer under 20 seconds.
Arina Openysheva posted the first win for the women when she turned in a 49.72 in the 100 freestyle. Christiana Regenauer was third with a 50.03 time for the Cardinals. Murilo Sartori followed suit with the winning time of 44.42 for the men’s 100 free. Haridi Sameh was fifth with a time of 44.67 and Michael Eastman was sixth in 44.91.
In the 200 back, Nicolas Albiero notched his second win with a time of 1:45.20. Jack Wever was fifth in 1:49.76 and Mitchell Whyte was seventh in 1:50.50. One the women’s side. Tatiana Salcutan was the top Cardinal finisher with a fourth place time of 1:58.95. Paige McCormick was sixth with a 2:08.57.
Tennessee’s Mona McSherry won the 200 breast with a time of 2:10.19 with Louisville freshman Kim Herkle putting up the third place time of 2:13.75. Mariia Astashkina was fifth, stopping the clock at 2:15.30 and Morgan Friesen was sixth in 2:16.28. On the men’s side, UT’s Lyubomir Epitropov won with a 1:55.97. UofL’s Daniel Sos was third in 2:00.71.
Ilia Sibirtsev won the 500 freestyle for the Cardinals with a time of 4:25.20, with Murilo Sartori touching third in 4:27.92 and Hayden Curley posting a fourth place time of 4:30.64. Maria Sumida was the top finisher for the Cardinals in the 500 freestyle with a fifth place time of 4:56.07 just ahead of teammate Liberty Williams, who posted a 4:58.42. Maddie Luther was seventh with a 5:05.67.
In the 100 Fly, Tristen Ulett was awarded first place points with a time of 53.55. Right behind her was teammate Gabi Albiero who went 53.61. Alena Kraus got third place points with a 55.28. In the men’s 100 fly, Nicolas Albiero was second with a 47.47 with teammate Dalton Lowe right behind him with a 47.74. The event was won by Kayky Mota of Tennessee, who went 46.54.
Daniel Sos hit the wall first in the 200 IM with a time of 1:46.98. Jack Wever was sixth with a time of 1:53.51 and Colton Paulson was seventh in 1:53.83. On the women’s side, Kim Herkle took top points in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.80, followed by Diana Dunn’s 2:03.08 and Tristen Ulett’s 2:03.40.
The Louisville men won the 400 free relay as Haridi Sameh (44.55), Nicolas Albiero (43.99), Murilo Sartori (44.00) and Michael Eastman (43.95) combined for a 2:56.49 and the win. The Louisville women touched second when Arina Openysheva (50.15), Gabi Albiero (49.70), Alena Kraus (50.57) and Christiana Regenauer (49.50) put together a 3:19.92. Tennessee won the relay just edging the Cards with a 3:19.60.
In diving, Kivanc Gur was second in 3M with a 336.15 and fourth on the 1M with a score of 289.58. Logan Smith was fifth in both the 1M with a 261.83 and the 3M with a 277.65. Grace Leonard was sixth in both events with a 215.78 in 1M and 227.33 in the 3M.