Liberty’s Pitto Named CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Week

Courtesy: Liberty Athletics

LYNCHBURG, Va. – After a dominant showing at UNC Asheville on Saturday, Liberty freshman Gianni Pitto was named CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Week.

A native of Lodi, Calif., Pitto receives her second CCSA Swimmer of the Week honor (also Oct. 2). Pitto is the first Lady Flame to earn multiple swimmer of the week awards as a freshman. Teammate Mikayla Herich was voted CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 31, giving Liberty three swimmer of the week honors this season.

Pitto continued her dominant freshman campaign, winning the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM at UNC Asheville. She now leads all Lady Flames with 18 individual-event victories. After winning the 100 breaststroke (1:04.81) and 200 breaststroke (2:20.32), she trailed UNC Asheville’s Madison Rogan by 1.64 seconds halfway through the 200 IM, However, Pitto beat Rogan by 2.79 seconds over the last 100, winning by a margin of 1.15 seconds (2:08.60 to 2:09.75). She also swam 29.79 for the second leg of Liberty’s 200 medley relay, which won in 1:46.21.

The Lady Flames pushed their dual-meet winning streak to 21, trailing only Stanford (25) among active NCAA Division I women’s swimming & diving winning streaks. The Lady Flames, at 13-0 on the season, are aiming for their first undefeated regular season in program history.

Liberty will host its last regular-season dual meet on Friday and Saturday, welcoming Campbell and Marshall to Liberty Natatorium. Friday’s action starts at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s first event will be at 11 a.m. Prior to Saturday’s session, Liberty will honor its seniors (Shelby Black, Alicia Finnigan, Ricki Lee Hodges, Corrilynn Lynch, Elizabeth Magnusson, Ashley Mauzy and Siani Null) with a Senior Day ceremony.