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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia’s swimming and diving teams will play host to Pittsburgh at noon Sunday in the Aquatic and Fitness Center. The event will be broadcast live online at www.accselect.com. One-meter diving will begin at 11 a.m. and admission is free.
The final home meet of the season also marks the last competition in the Aquatic and Fitness Center for nine seniors: Amber Bialas, Stephanie Glover, Kenton Harris, Jessica Lewis, Julie McLaughlin, Michael Miller, Jake Shrum, Bryan Stahl and PJ Sullivan.
The Cavalier women are coming off of an outstanding performance against North Carolina last weekend. ACC Performer of the Week Liz Shaw’s record-setting performance in the 200 fly was the highlight of the meet as she led the women to a 191-109 victory.
The men, coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Tar Heels, are ready to close out the season with a win. Rookies Matt McLean and Scot Robison won the 200 free and the 50 free, respectively, last weekend and will look to stay dominant. Eric Olesen had two outstanding performances against North Carolina swimming a season-best time in the 100 back and winning the 100 fly.
“We knew that our athletes would be very emotionally excited for the competition in Chapel Hill, but we wanted to keep everything as even a keel as we possibly could the following week,” head coach Mark Bernardino said. “Pittsburgh is a very worthy opponent; they have excellent and long-standing traditions in the sport of swimming, and they are going to present us with some difficult match-ups. We have to work hard, we have to stay focused, and we have to swim fast again.”
Bernardino also recognizes the importance of this final home meet. “It’s a special time for the senior athletes, it’s a special time for their families, and it’s a special time for the athletes that have been fortunate enough to spend time with them. Hopefully things will go as they have in the past and we’ll be able to swim well as a team and focus our energies on sending our seniors home as winners in our final home meet.”
The Pittsburgh women suffered their first dual-meet loss of the season to Penn State last weekend. Agnes Mago and Stacie Safritt led the team, placing second in the 200 IM and 50 free, respectively.
On the men’s side, Pittsburgh’s Adam Plutecki and Warren Barnes put in solid performances last weekend, winning the 200 IM and the 200 breast, respectively. The men also have a strong diving team led by Alex Volovetski and Jeremy Stultz.
Live stats of the meet will also be available by clicking here.