Virginia Welcomes Tennessee, Virginia Tech in Last Homestand

Courtesy: Virginia Athletics

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.–  The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will host Tennessee and Virginia Tech in back-to-back dual meets at the Aquatic and Fitness Center this weekend (Jan. 11-12) in the Cavaliers’ last home competitions of the season. Virginia will celebrate Senior Day prior to the start of the swimming events on Saturday against the Hokies.

Both Friday’s meet against Tennessee and Saturday’s competition against Virginia Tech will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. The stream will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday. Links to the streams and to live results can be accessed at VirginiaSports.com.

Admission to Virginia swimming and diving meets is free to the public. Public parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis at Slaughter Recreation Center and the parking lot closest to the West Gate at Scott Stadium.

Meet Information:

Virginia vs. Tennessee
Friday, January 11
• Diving- 10 a.m.
• Swimming- 1 p.m.
Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
Saturday, January 12
• Diving – 9 a.m.
• Swimming- 12 p.m.

Promotions
• The Cavaliers will recognize 15 seniors on Saturday prior to the start of the team’s swimming events. Virginia will recognize Alex Albracht (Mission Hills, Kan.), Peyton Baldwin (Newport News, Va.), Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.), Anna Dickinson (Virginia Beach, Va.), Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.), Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.), Dan Golczewski (Del Air, Md.), Brandon Goldstein (Gaithersburg, Md.), Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.), Gust Kouvaris (Troy, Mich.), Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.), Kirsten Parkinson (Stamford, Conn.), Rachel Politi (Bexley, Ohio), Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) and Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.).
•Additionally, a face painter and balloon artist will be present in the lobby during Saturday’s meet.

Rankings
• Both Cavalier teams hold a top 25 ranking, according to the latest poll from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. Virginia (3-1) ranks 11th in the women’s poll and 16th in the men’s (3-1) poll.
• Virginia will face the No. 5 women’s team on Friday as the Cavaliers host Tennessee, while the Cavalier men will battle the 11th-ranked Volunteers.

The Cavaliers
• Virginia will compete as a full squad for the first time since the winter break as they welcome Tennessee and Virginia Tech to town in back-to-back home meets.
• The Virginia divers opened the new year at the Georgia Diving Invitational last weekend (Jan. 4-6). Junior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) led the team, placing in the top five of all three events.
• The Cavalier swimmers last competed at the UGA Fall Invitational (Nov. 29-Dec.1). Sophomore Robby Giller (Wilton, Conn.) and junior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) each set a school record at the meet. Giller swam a school record time of 1:40.21 in the 200-yard backstroke to finish third in the event, while Hill’s record time of 47.83 in the 100-yard freestyle placed her fourth in the competition.

Top Swims
• Individually, four Cavalier women rank in the top 25 nationally for their performance this season. Hill (Olney, Md.) ranks 10th in both the 50 (22.05) and 100-yard freestyle (47.83), 13th in the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.47) and 15th in the 100-yard butterfly (52.16). Sophomore Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) holds a top-25 ranking in four events, ranking 10th in the 200-yard backstroke (1:53.02), 13th in the 500-yard freestyle (4:39.19), 23rd in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.35) and 24th in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:54.32). Redshirt junior Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) ranks 20th in the 200-yard backstroke (1:53.78), while freshman Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.) ranks 18th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.00).
• On the men’s side, redshirt senior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) ranks 18th in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:05.04) and 24th in the 400-yard individual medley (3:47.06). Giller, junior Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) and senior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) also hold two top-25 swims apiece. Giller ranks ninth in the 200-yard backstroke (1:40.21) and 18th in the 400-yard individual medley (3:45.79), while Schubert ranks 18th in the 200-yard butterfly (1:43.08) and 22nd in the 400-yard individual medley (3:46.50) and Fong ranks 22nd in the 100-yard butterfly (46.40) and ranks eighth in the 200-yard butterfly (1:42.02)
• Additionally, sophomore Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas) ranks 22nd in the 200-yard backstroke (1:41.62), while sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) ranks 22nd in the 100-yard breaststroke (53.19).

Tennessee
• The Volunteers have 31 swims that rank in the top 25 nationally, including three top-five performances from Erika Brown (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly) and two top-10 swims from Nikol Popov (100 and 200-yard breaststroke). The men’s team is led by Joey Reilman, who ranks second in the 200-yard backstroke and eighth in the 200-yard freestyle.
• The women enter the weekend with a 4-1 record after suffering a loss to Louisville in the team’s season opener, while the men’s team holds a 4-2 record, falling to defending national champions Texas and the Cardinals.
• The two teams competed last season with the Virginia women recording a 177-123 victory, while the men fell 198-100. Hill and Madden recorded wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke, respectively. Casey won the 200-yard backstroke, while Otto captured first place in the 200-yard breaststroke to led the men’s team.

Virginia Tech
• Virginia split last year’s two-day meet against the Hokies as the women won 189.5-163.5, while the men fell 218-133.
• At the women’s ACC Championships, Virginia Tech recorded a seventh-place finish. The men placed sixth at the conference meet.
• The Hokies have two nationally ranked top-25 times as Thomas Hallock ranks 22nd in the men’s 50-yard freestyle and Samuel Tornqvist ranks 25th in the men’s 200-yard backstroke.