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Cavaliers Set to Compete at Tennessee Saturday
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are set to compete in a dual meet Saturday at Tennessee. The meet is scheduled for 12 p.m. and live results will be available on VirginiaSports.com.
With classes at UVa not scheduled to resume until Jan. 19, both Virginia squads are in the midst of winter training.
“We reconvened in Charlottesville officially on Dec. 30 and it’s the earliest we have come back in a couple of years,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “With the main focus being a long-term look at the ACC and NCAA Championships, we felt that every day of training was precious. The challenges we have ahead of us our monumental; we have a huge target on our back and it’s going to take more work and more focus, a higher level of training and more time. We will dedicate ourselves to all of those things to be as prepared as we can be.”
In the latest TYR/CSCAA top-25 poll released Dec. 16, the Virginia men (4-0 in dual meets) climbed one spot to No. 10, while the women (2-1 in dual meets) remained the ninth-ranked team.
The Cavaliers last competed at the Georgia Invitational Dec. 3-5, where the Virginia women earned a third-place finish and the men were fourth.
The Tennessee men, ranked No. 15, are 3-1 in dual meets on the year, with its only setback coming at Ohio State. The Volunteers last competed at their own Tennessee Invitational, which was held Nov. 18-20.
The Lady Volunteers are 12th in the latest rankings and also last competed back in late November at the Tennessee Invitational. The UT women are 4-0 in dual meets this season.
“The Tennessee men are an outstanding team and their counterpart on the women’s side is equally as good,” Bernardino said. “They are traditionally top-10 national powerhouses. We are going to go in there with the heaviest volume of training under our belts that we have done all season. There is less focus on dual meets; our main challenge is preparing for championship season.”