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Virginia Sweeps Duke in Home Opener
Nov. 3, 2017
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Duke in the Cavaliers’ home opener on Friday (Nov. 3) at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers recorded a first-place finish in 19 events.
The No. 14 Virginia women’s team defeated No. 23 Duke, 182-115, while the No. 25 Cavalier men topped the Blue Devils, 169-131.
“Both teams swam well against Duke in our competition today,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “Our goal is to get better every week, and being at home and being able to feed off the crowd, parents and alumni definitely helped us do that. We are pleased with where the teams are at. We had seven different females win events today and a couple of swimmers win two. Our underclassmen are doing great. Emma Seiberlich, who is a freshman, and Mary Claire Tansill, a sophomore, won two events. Morgan Hill, another sophomore, also won an event today.
“On the men’s side, the meet came down to the last couple of events and the guys pulled through. That seems to be a trend in the last three competitions with some teams really challenge us. It was great to see the guys fight, hold together, and support each other. Definitely excited about the overall team effort.”
The meet opened with freshman Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.), junior Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.), freshman Anna Pang (SINGAPORE) and senior Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.), respectively, finishing first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:40.61.
In the individual events, the women’s team was paced by freshman Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) and sophomore Mary Claire Tansill (Bristow, Va.). Seiberlich finished first in the 100-yard backstroke (54.91) and 200-yard backstroke (1:58.40), while Tansill finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.95) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:16.87).
Two swimmers recorded NCAA B Standard times as senior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) placed first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:56.63 and senior Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.50.
Sophomore Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) won the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.50), while junior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) won the 100-yard freestyle (50.03).
Junior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) finished first in the women’s 3-meter dive, recording a score of 305.48.
On the men’s side, three swimmers recorded a pair of first-place finishes. Redshirt junior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) paced the 1000-yard freestyle (9:17.13) and 500-yard freestyle (4:30.51), while junior Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) led the 100-yard butterfly with an NCAA B Standard time (48.21) and 100-yard individual medley (50.47). Freshman Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) touched the wall first in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:59.98), in addition to tying for the top time in the 100-breaststroke with freshman Joseph Barnum (Louisville, Ky.). Otto and Barnum recorded a time of 55.61 in the event.
Junior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) finished first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:48.02.
The Cavaliers swept the final event of the night, the 200-yard freestyle relay. The women’s team of Hill, Eddy, Pang and Cooper, respectively, recorded a time of 1:30.48, while the men’s team of senior Luke Georgiadis (Jacksonville, Fla.), Fong, sophomore Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) and sophomore Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), respectively, recorded a time of 1:22.01.
“One of the most important things is the energy the team is bringing to competitions,” DeSorbo said. “It was a long day, but the team was standing nonstop, cheering and being loud, which is what we want. We are moving forward in training, which is reflected in our competitions. It was a great day and we will start looking forward to next week against Louisville and Princeton. Both of those teams are quality programs who will try and steal a couple of wins from us on our home turf. We will keep moving forward, trying to make the alumni, parents and the University of Virginia proud.”
Virginia will host Louisville and Princeton in a two day meet beginning Oct. 20 at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.