UNLV vs Nevada (Women)
- Friday, January 20, 2023
- Reno, Nevada
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Score: UNLV 166, Nevada 133
Courtesy: UNLV Athletics
RENO (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women’s swimming and diving team picked up a 166-133 victory over in-state rival UNR for the third straight season Friday at Lombardi Pool. With the win, the Rebels will clinch at least a tie of the three points in the Silver State Series presented by America First Credit Union.
Overall, the Rebels won eight events, grabbed five event sweeps in the freestyle specialties and had 29 combined top-3 finishes across the individual and relay races.
REBELS OF THE MEET:
*Sophomore Cameron Mykkanen gave the Rebels the lead for good with her comeback win in the 200 back. She also placed third in the 100 back (57.57) and 100 fly (57.38).
*Freshman Hannah Jones paced the Scarlet & Gray in the distance swims with a 1000 free win.
*Sophomore Bridget Sullivan and freshman Erika Carlson both led UNLV with 18 points, individually. Sullivan had her first career double-win meet, taking first place in the 50 free (24.15) and 100 free (52.32), while Carlson made her mark with 200 free (1:52.20) and 500 free (5:01.77) wins.
*Junior Ruby Howell finished with the squad’s second most points on the day (9 points), placing second in both the 200 IM (2:08.11) and 200 breast (2:22.66) and fifth in the 100 backstroke (58.40).
THE RUNDOWN
*The Rebels completed a 1-2-3 event sweep in the 1000 free as freshman Hannah Jones won with a time of 10:24.46. Following her were freshman Ashley Hughes in second (10:33.14) and super senior Tenesha Ash in third (10:34.25).
*In the 200 free, Carlson and her freshman counterpart Kayleigh Lovell made it a 1-2 Rebel finish. Lovell followed right behind Carlson in second place with a time of 1:54.36.
*Junior Blanka Bokros (2:02.66) secured another win in the 200 fly, touching the wall just seconds before her Rebel teammate in super senior Gabby Lizzul (2:06.01), who finished second. Additionally, Bokros led the way in the 100 fly by claiming second place.
*Moments later, Sullivan, sophomore Pilar Cohen and junior Malia Fernandez completed a 1-2-3 sweep in the 50 free. After Sullivan’s first-place finish, Cohen and Fernandez finished side-by-side to tie for second place (24.20).
*The Rebels’ sprint specialists added another 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 free with Sullivan touching the wall first in 52.32. Swapping spots from their prior event, Fernandez finished second (53.26) and Cohen took home third place (53.40).
*Mykkanen snagged an upset win with her come-from-behind effort in the 200 backstroke (2:03.19). After being out-split by the Wolf Pack’s Benedict Nagy on the first 100 yards, the second-year Rebel ended up out-touching Nagy with respective splits of 30.95 and 31.32 on the final two 50 yard laps.
*The Scarlet & Gray completed a third event sweep of the day in the 500 free led by Carlson (5:01.77). Right behind her Jones secured second place (5:07.81), Ash took third (5:09.73). Hughes finished with the fourth-best time in the race 5:11.74, giving the Rebels the top-4 spots as she exhibitioned the race.
*UNLV wrapped up the night with their final victory in the 200 free relay. The Rebel ‘A’ team of Fernandez, Cohen, Sullivan and freshman Averi Webb combined to post a first-place time of 1:35.38.
*Also headlining efforts for UNLV in the diving events, junior Vika Yanovska and sophomore Jenna Walch each splashed their way to personal bests in the 3-meter competition. The former scored a 299.78 for fifth place and the latter tallied a 243.15 for sixth place.
*Also tacking on top-3 finishes for the Scarlet & Gray, junior Calysta Bartlett (1:04.68) and freshman Jillian Moses (1:05.36) had second-place and third-place finishes in the 100 breast, respectively. Moses also contributed a third-place swim of 2:23.05 in the 200 breast.
*The Rebel ‘A’ relay team (Webb, Bartlett, Bokros, Cohen) swam to a second-place finish (1:45.35) in the 200 medley relay to start the day’s events.
*Additionally, the meet was a successful homecoming for senior Alexia Taylor-Arredondo. The Reno native swam in the 50 free (24.56), 100 free (53.33), and anchored the Rebel ‘B’ team (Lovell, Ash, Carlson, Taylor-Arredondo) to third place in the 200 free relay.
QUOTABLE: “It’s always a good day when you get the win against the Wolf Pack. [Reno] is a tough place to race, but our women really brought great energy and raced tough. Hats off to our freestyle crews, they were indomitable and really carried us today. It’s tough to beat any home team at altitude, but our squad was untouchable across the board in the freestyle races in both distance and sprints. And then Cameron [Mykkanen] came up big with the upset win in the 200 back to give us the lead for good. Despite a great win, we’re laser-focused on the Mountain West Championships, so we’re going to stay humble and hungry for the bigger prize at the end of the season.” –UNLV Head Coach Ben Loorz
UP NEXT: The Rebels’ weekend ends with the men’s squad competing in San Diego at the Triton Invitational against host UC San Diego and No. 3 Cal on Saturday.
Courtesy: Nevada Athletics
RENO, Nev. – Nevada swim and dive dropped first home meet of the year against UNLV on Friday, afternoon, with a final score of 166-133.
Nevada divers dominated the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard as they finished first, second, third, and fourth place. Melissa Mirafuentes was the winner in the 1-meter, with a score of 307.05. Mirafuentes was followed by Laura Isabel Vazquez Lopez (299.48), Bailey Heydra (290.70), and Lucia Gabino (280.80).
In the 3-meter springboard, the Pack was led by Vazquez Lopez, with a 357.53. The Guadalajara, Mexico native was followed by Gabino (344.70), Heydra (309.38), and Mirafuentes (302.63).
Nevada swim started the afternoon with a win over UNLV in the 200 medley relay. The A squad, composed of Kyla Alexander, Wiktoria Samula, Josien Wijkhuijs, and Martyna Jablonska, finished the race with a time of 1:43.57.
Alexander, Samula, and Wijkhuijs also secured individual wins for the Pack. Alexander finished the 100 backstroke in first place with a time of 56.32. The Auckland, New Zealand native also represented the Pack in the 200 backstroke, as she finished in third place with a time of 2:05.54.
Samula dominated the breaststroke events as she won the 100, with a time of 1:04.31, and the 200, with a time of 2:21.01.
Wijkhuijs was the winner of the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.33. The senior also represented the Pack in the 100 backstroke with a second place, behind Alexander with a 56.99.
Benedict Nagy also took the win for the Pack in the 200 IM, with a time of 2:05.93. Nagy was also the top swimmer for the Pack in the 200 backstroke, as she finished in second with a 2:04.23.
Nevada concluded the day with a second place in the 200 freestyle relay, with a time of 1:37.06.
The Pack will return to Lombardi on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. as they take on the New Mexico Lobos. The meet will also be the final home meet of the season before Nevada head to the Mountain West Championships.
