Tennessee Edges Virginia, 156-144

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia men’s swimming and diving teams fell to Tennessee 156-144 Thursday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.

The loss drops the Cavaliers to 4-2 in dual meet competition this season, while the Volunteers stay unbeaten at 5-0.

“I was very pleased with the attitude, determination, and excellence with which we swam,” said head coach Mark Bernardino. “It was very strong Tennessee team. We fought and battled from the time the first whistle blew until the last touch, but it was a great meet. It was a day of outstanding college swimming. You don’t see them much better than this.”

Tennessee won the first event of the afternoon, the 200 medley relay, swimming in a winning time of 1:29.25. The Cavalier team of Bryan Stahl, PJ Sullivan, Lee Robertson and Scot Robison placed second in 1:31.39, while UVa’s squad of Tony Colella, John Azar, Eric Olesen and Zach Kohl finished third in 1:32.70.

Taylor Smith swam his best finish of the year in the 1000 free with a winning time of 9:11.09. Teammate Dan McMahon was third (9:23.25).

Smith claimed his second win of the afternoon in the 500 free, where the Cavaliers finished 1-2-3. Smith clocked a time of 4:28.98. Teammates Matt McLean (4:32.14) and Garrett Wren (4:34.16) were second and third, respectively.

The Cavaliers were led in the 200 free by John Azar, who claimed the top spot in 1:38.32: the fastest time for any UVa swimmer in that event this year. Azar went on to finish second in the 200 breast with a mark of 2:02.94.

Virginia went 1-2-3 in the 100 backstroke, with Bryan Stahl winning the event in 50.24. Eric Olesen and Bjorn Falk were second and third, respectively, clocking times of 50.50 and 51.10.

Lee Robertson was second in the 200 butterfly (1:49.57) while PJ Sullivan (57.28) and Zach Kohl (21.39) placed third in the 100 breast and 50 free, respectively.

Robertson also placed second in the 100 fly (49.94), while Olesen (50.06) finished third.

On the boards, Alex D’Ambrosio paced the Cavaliers with two second-place finishes in diving. He recorded a season-high score of 308.85 points in the 3-meter and 276.68 in the 1-meter.

The Cavalier 400 free relay teams ended the meet with a 1-2 finish. Azar, McLean, Robison and Robertson posted a season-best time of 3:02.66. They were followed by the team of Kohl, Smith, Olesen, and Stahl, who swam 3:06.45.

Virginia is back in action at the Georgia Invitational Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 in Athens, Ga.