Tennessee Sweeps Loiusville (M: 165-130; W: 207-93)

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, October 20. THE Tennessee men and women's swimming and diving teams began the 2007-08 season with victories over the Louisville Cardinals, men 165-130, women 207-93.

"It was a good start to the season, " UT head coach John Trembley said. "We had athletes swim some very nice races, but we were still a little sloppy in some other areas. There was great enthusiasm on the team's part. Our parents outnumbered the home crowd which always helps at an away meet."

Coach Trembley and the Vols ran into some trouble on the trip to Louisville. A four-hour bus ride turned into a ten-hour evening for the Vols yesterday on their way, as the bus just nearly avoided a wreck.

"Overall, we were pleased with our perfomance after yesterday's troubles," Trembley said. "Our guys weren't able to get into the pool yesterday to prepare. However, the guys were positive about it and they represented their team and families well."

Senior captain Michael Wolfe and senior teammate Octavio Alesi led the team both with two victories. Wolfe won the 200 back (1:47.57) and butterfly (1:47.87). Alesi continues his undefeated-streak in dual meets, as he won the 50 (20.61) and 100 (45.48) freestyle races.

"It was a good start to the season," Trembley said. "Wolfe swam some very nice races and Alesi continues to shine. Nolan Morrell swam very well too."

Morrell swam to a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke (49.79) and a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle (45.88).

"Geoff Sanders picked up his first win as a Tennessee Volunteer," Trembley said. "Barry Murphy continues to improve. He's getting stronger it seems every meet. Brad Craig swarm smart races and actually won two events."

Sanders won the 500 freestyle (4:35.83) and picked up second-place in the 200 free (1:41.52). Murphy triumphed in the 100 breaststroke (56:58). And Craig splashed into first-place in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.27).

Sophomore Michael Muscari took first and second place in the one-meter (318.60) and three-meter (335.02) boards, respectively. Senior Ryan Rincon topped the three-meter competition with a score of 345.15.

On the women's side, Tennessee took 14 of 16 events and set five pool records.

"For our first meet, I thought we performed really well," head swimming coach Matt Kredich said. "We've put in some great work this fall, but we also have a number of athletes who worked very hard and got a lot better this summer. It is great to see that improvement come through in this meet.

"Ashley Quinn, Katie Gehring, and Carly Mathes are much better than they were last year. Sarah McCall swam with a lot of poise, and I thought our freshmen were really tough."

Tennessee came out strong in the first event, the 200y medley relay by setting a Ralph Wright Natatorium record of 1:43.17. Freshman Tricia Weaner headed the foursome of sophomore Michele King, senior Christine Magnuson and junior Brittany Nauta which touched the wall in 1:43.17 to pick up the first 11 points for Team Orange. While the Cardinals took second place in the 200y MR, freshmen Morgan Farrell and Martina Moravcikova joined juniors Betsy Lange and Katie Gehring for third with a time of 1:46.52.

Freshman Aleksa Akerfelds got her first collegiate win by stopping the clock at a pool-record 10:00.22 in the 1000y free. She was followed in second and third place by junior Sarah McCall (10:21.68) and Moravcikova (10:25.56).

In the 200y freestyle event, UT took the top-three positions once again, led by senior All-American Magnuson. Magnuson recorded a time of 1:49.60 and was followed by fellow All-American Nauta (1:52.77), and Farrell (1:53.20). Lange also entered the 200y free race and finished seventh in 1:59.80.

Tennessee was led by Weaner in the 100y back who touched the wall in 57.03 to claim her second collegiate first-place finish. Senior Danyelle Vincent came in second in 58.48, while junior Maria Jugan was sixth with a time of 1:01.15.

The All-American, King, headed a trio of Lady Vols which took the top-three positions in the 100y breast. King stopped the clock in 1:03.14 (just .04 seconds away from the pool record), while sophomore Bryttany Curran and Moravcikova came in second and third with times of 1:05.38 and 1:05.41, respectively.

Four Lady Vols represented UT in the 200y butterfly event. Junior All-American Carly Mathes took the top position in 2:03.77 followed by Akerfelds (2:06.02) and Weaner (2:07.16). Lange picked up another sixth-place result in 2:10.47.

Tennessee won all but two races today, one of which was the 50y free. Gehring, junior Ashley Quinn and Nauta took the second, third and fifth spots, respectively, in the 50y free. Gehring stopped the clock in a personal-best 23.78, Quinn in 23.96 and Nauta in 24.05.

Lauren LeRoy swept the diving events beginning with a 286.95 score on the one-meter board. Fellow senior Vicky Linnell came in second by totaling 261.44 points, while freshman Jill Pierce (210.67) and junior Staley McCartney (205.28) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

LeRoy, who earned her first All-America certificate last year, won the three-meter event with a score of 302.85. Once again. Linnell followed in second with a 261.23, Pierce was fourth (238.42) and McCartney was sixth (221.33).

Mathes won her second event on the day in the 100y freestyle with a time of 51.33 to take first. Fehrman followed in fourth in 52.98, and Quinn added points in fifth place by touching the wall in 53.98. Laura Tomes placed seventh (55.87) in the first event of her sophomore campaign.

Akerfelds earned another nine points for Team Orange by finishing first in the 200y back in 2:04.87. Farrell and Vincent also contributed to the cause by placing third (2:07.59) and fourth (2:08.60), respectively. Jugan was seventh with a time of 2:13.74.

Curran led the orange-clad swimmers in the 200y breast with a second-place 2:19.98. Moravcikova and McCall joined her by placing third (2:20.84) and fourth (2:24.40), respectively.

King and Magnuson are usually freestyle sprinters who tried their hand in the 500y free event and were quite successful. King, who took first in a time of 4:55.01, was followed by Magnuson in second place (4:59.17). Lady Vols rounded out the top four with Nauta touching the wall in 5:02.85, and McCall in 5:05.61.

Magnuson picked up another top honor in the 100y fly by setting a pool record with a 54.80 mark. Farrell and Gehring came in fourth (57.90) and sixth (59.98), respectively.

Two events later, Mathes set another Ralph Wright Natatorium record by stopping the clock at 2:04.68 in the 200y IM. She was followed by King in second (2:06.41), Weaner in third (2:09.20) and Curran in sixth (2:12.54).

In the last event of the day, Kredich entered three exhibition foursomes in the 200y free relay. Quinn, Curran, Weaner and King finished in 1:35.73. Vincent, Moravcikova, Farrell and Mathes clocked a 1:37.86, while Gehring, Lange, Jugan and Magnuson had a time of 1:38.16.

Special thanks to Tennessee for contributing this report.

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