South Carolina vs. Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, November 6. LED by freshman Kelsey Floyd's three victories, the Tennessee women's swimming and diving team improved to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference with a 179-121 win over South Carolina on Friday afternoon at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

With many Lady Vol swimmers competing in events different from normal, Floyd was outstanding for the second straight meet.

The reigning SEC Female Freshman of the Week placed first in two individual events and earned a runner-up finish. She edged sophomore Jenny Connolly, 2:01.32 – 2:01.47, to win the 200y fly, and touched first in the 200y back (1:59.25) – missing an NCAA ‘B' cut by just one one-hundredth of a second. Later in the meet, Connolly bested Floyd as the pair went 1-2 in the 200y back with readouts of 55.03 and 55.68, respectively.

"Kelsey just keeps getting better," Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich said. "Kelsey, Morgan Farrell, Aleksa Akerfelds and Breanna Folk all stepped up and were all really focused today. We changed it up and had different people swim different events. The team's focus was better than last week and that was our main goal."

Akerfelds, a junior, snagged a pair of individual event wins, taking first in the 400y IM (4:23.28) and the 1000y free (10:02.03). Additionally, the Bronxville, N.Y., native claimed second-place honors in the 100y free (52.29).

Senior Michele King continued her dominant final collegiate season by taking first in the 50y free (23.04) and second in the 200y free (1:52.66).

King also teamed with Connolly, junior Morgan Farrell and sophomore Atlantis Wilkins to kick off the meet with a winning 200y medley relay performance (1:44.34).

Farrell captured her first-ever collegiate win in the 100y back (56.50), barely touching the wall before classmate Tricia Weaner (56.76).

Floyd wasn't the only impressive freshman, as Folk took first in the 100y breast in 1:03.56, leading a UT sweep with sophomores Samara Gelb (1:04.47) and Kirstyn Colonias (1:07.41) finishing second and third, respectively.

Tennessee's only other event winner was sophomore Tori Richmond, who placed first in the 200y breast (2:19.35).

The Gamecocks picked up a sweep on the boards, as junior Taryn Zack broke her own pool record (310.35) on the 1-meter and classmate Courtney Forcucci also set a new AJIAC mark on the 3-meter (330.23).

Sophomores Gabrielle Trudeau and Jodie McGroarty led UT's efforts in the diving competition. Trudeau was second on the 1-meter (269.48), while McGroarty picked up an NCAA Zone qualifying score (289.50) en route to placing third on the 3-meter.

"I'm very pleased with how we competed on the 1-meter," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "Zack is the defending SEC Champion in that event and she dove like it. It was good to see Gabbi fight and scrape for second-place. It also was good to see Jodie get a zone score on the 3-meter. She is on a dive limit since coming back and just needs to get some more meets under her belt."

South Carolina's Claire Thompson was a double event winner, claiming the 200y free (1:51.37) and 500y free (5:00.02).

Also capturing a swimming event for the Gamecocks was Sharntelle McLean, as she touched first in the 100y free (51.94).

With the meet already clinched by UT, South Carolina capped the afternoon by out-touching the Big Orange in the 200y free relay (1:36.11).

The Lady Vols will be back in action from Nov. 19-21, when it hosts the UT Invitational at the AJIAC in Knoxville.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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