Wall, Gridley & Pfaff Show Out As Duke Women Snap Four-Meet Losing Skid Against UNC In Split

DUKE VS NORTH CAROLINA

• Friday, October 17, 2025
• Durham, N.C.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results (PDF)
• Final Scores
  • Women: Duke 158, UNC 142
  • Men: UNC 205, Duke 95

Duke hosted North Carolina in an ACC showdown on Friday night from the Taishoff Aquatics Center, and it was the Blue Devil women earning a monumental victory over the Tar Heels, while on the men’s side, UNC cruised to a decisive victory.

WOMEN’S RECAP

A trio of upperclassmen led the Duke women to their first victory over UNC since 2019, as seniors Tatum Wall and Kaelyn Gridley and junior Ali Pfaff all won two individual events apiece and contributed to at least one of the team’s two relay victories.

Our blue >>>> That’s a wrap from Taishoff! pic.twitter.com/qPACo55ckd

— Duke Swimming & Diving (@DukeSWIMDIVE) October 17, 2025

The Blue Devils got off on the right foot, as Pfaff (24.17), Gridley (26.85), freshman Heather White (23.62) and Wall (21.38) put up a time of 1:36.02 in the 200 medley to easily outpace UNC (1:37.82), which got a notable 22.81 fly split from freshman Kamryn Meskill.

UNC then picked up some early momentum with back-to-back wins from Lily Reader in the 1000 free (9:53.19) and Maren Conze in the 200 free (1:47.64), but Duke took over from there.

Pfaff kicked off the party by rolling to a big win in the 100 back, clocking 51.50 to get under the NCAA qualifying time with freshman teammate Tierney Lenahan the runner-up in 52.87.

The swim for Pfaff is just 39 one-hundredths shy of her personal best of 51.11, set in February at ACCs, though it’s not uncharted territory for her this early in the season, having gone 51.66 on Oct. 25 last season against Virginia Tech.

Pfaff followed up with another NCAA-qualifying swim in the 200 back, clocking 1:52.49 to cruise past UNC’s Emma Karam (1:54.94) and notch the fourth-fastest swim of her career, with her lifetime best standing at 1:51.55 from the 2024 Wolfpack Elite Invitational. Last season in October, Pfaff went 1:53.69 against South Carolina.

Immediately after Pfaff’s 100 back win got the ball rolling for Duke, Gridley followed up with a big performace in the 100 breast, touching in 59.07 to win by nearly three seconds and move into 3rd in the national rankings so far this season. Last October against South Carolina, Gridley was four-tenths faster at 58.68.

Later in the meet, Gridley cruised to the 200 breast win in 2:10.04, topping UNC’s Mary Macaulay (2:14.28), which, like the 100 breast, was slightly slower than she was last October (2:09.35).

After her scintillating anchor leg on the 200 medley relay, Wall swept the sprint freestyle events with two more impressive swims, topping the 50 free by nearly eight-tenths in 21.94 and then led a 1-2-3 sweep for Duke in the 100 free.

Her 50 free swim ranks 5th in the NCAA this season and is only 15 one-hundredths shy of her personal best set last November (21.79).

In the 100 free, Wall touched in 48.24 to lead teammates White (49.06) and Clare Logan (49.89), notably on par with where she was at last season’s Wolfpack Elite Invte (48.22).

Wall, who set a best time of 47.65 last January in a dual with Georgia Tech, wasn’t done there, however, leading off Duke’s 400 free relay in 48.05 to move into a tie for 8th this season in the 100 free.

Joining Wall on the Blue Devils’ 400 free relay was Pfaff (48.53), Logan (49.42) and White (48.32), as they finished in 3:14.32 to crush UNC (3:19.82) by five and a half seconds.

White had a win of her own for Duke in the 100 fly, setting a new personal best of 53.18, while fellow first-year Meskill of UNC touched in 53.55 for 2nd–56 one-hundredths back of her lifetime best of 52.99.

UNC’s Conze, who won the 200 free early in the meet, doubled up by topping the 500 free in 4:50.59, while Macaulay had two wins of her own in the 200 fly (1:56.17) and 200 IM (1:58.79) for the Tar Heels. For Macaulay, her 200 fly swim was a half-second quicker than she was last October (1:56.62), while the 200 IM was quicker by over seven-tenths (1:59.58).

On the boards, Duke’s Keira Lu topped the 1-meter event with a score of 331.13 to edge out UNC’s Lanie Gutch (330.08), while in the 3-meter event, UNC’s Eliana Joyce (316.13) led Lu (309.15) and Gutch (301.13).

MEN’S RECAP

The men’s meet was pure domination from UNC in the pool, as the Tar Heels swept all 14 swimming events, while Duke collected two event wins in diving.

Battled the Blue Devils 🐏

The men clobbered Duke 205-95, while the women dropped a tight one 158-142.#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/ipNna7XND4

— Carolina Swimming & Diving (@uncswimdive) October 17, 2025

Leading the charge for UNC was senior Louis Dramm, junior Ben Delmar, sophomore Sean Setzer and Florida transfer Josh Parent, who joins the Tar Heels after two seasons with the Gators.

Dramm, racing the 100 back and 100 fly for the first time in his collegiate career, swept the events in dominant fashion, leading a 1-2-3-4 sweep for UNC in the 100 back (47.71) and then clocking 47.27 in the 100 fly to go 1-2 with teammate Colin Whelehan (48.47).

Delmar was the top point-scorer of the meet after earning wins in the 200 breast (1:55.02) and 200 IM (1:47.10) and adding a runner-up finish in the 200 fly (1:46.96), setting a new personal best time in the latter. Winning the 200 fly was teammate Seb Lunak (1:46.43).

Last October, Delmar was slightly faster in the 200 breast (1:54.03) and 200 IM (1:46.72).

Setzer swept the 50 free (20.05) and 100 free (44.08), lowering his season-best in the 100 after going 44.38 in late September against Queens. He was over two-tenths faster, 19.82, in the 50 free against the Royals.

Parent got the job done in the distance events, first topping the 1000 free in a season-best time of 9:07.32, improving on the 9:09.82 he posted against Queens, and then held off Duke’s Charlie Kulp to win the 500 free, 4:25.21 to 4:25.87. Parent’s season-best sits at 4:24.95, set against Queens.

Also winning for UNC were junior David Quaresma in the 200 free (1:36.43), sophomore Xavier Ruiz in the 100 breast (53.96), and freshman David Melnychuk in the 200 back (1:45.67). All three swimmers were slightly quicker last month against Queens.

The Tar Heels stamped their dominance by going 1-2 in both relays, with the ‘B’ squad of Reid Miller, Ruiz, Dramm and Nate Hohm combining to top the 200 medley in 1:27.39, edging out the ‘A’ quarter of Granger Bartee, Delmar, Lunak and Setzer (1:27.53), with Duke 3rd in 1:27.85.

In the 400 free relay, the UNC ‘A’ squad of Dramm (43.23), Setzer (43.60), Quaresma (43.93) and Lunak (44.31) clocked 2:55.07 to comfortalby top their ‘B’ team (2:58.91) with Duke 3rd in 3:00.00.

On the boards, Duke’s lone event wins came from Charlie Berman and Yannis Schattman. Berman won the 1-meter (316.28) over Schattman (309.15), while on 3-meter, Schattman (360.90), Tynan O’Donoghue (355.88) and Berman (349.50) went 1-2-3 for the Blue Devils.

NEXT UP

Both squads will hit the road and head to Virginia this weekend, with UNC set to battle the Cavaliers on Friday, Oct. 24, and Duke set to take on Virginia Tech on Saturday, Oct. 25.