RALEIGH \u2013 Saturday\u2019s dual meet between NC State and North Carolina brought alumni and fervent supporters of both swimming and diving teams to the meet, and it created an exciting environment for what turned out to be a great preview of what\u2019s to come in a few weeks at the ACC championship.<\/p>\n
NC State head coach Braden Holloway spoke after the meet with Swimming World\u2019s David Rieder at length about the strengths and weaknesses of his women\u2019s team, and how North Carolina\u2019s depth was too much for his team to handle in the dual meet. Looking ahead to this month\u2019s Atlantic Coast Conference championships, Holloway is confident his women\u2019s team will place in the top three, but squads such as UNC and Louisville will not make it easy.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s meet was not as nailbiting, with NC State winning all but one event. Holloway said the varying pool depth at NC State gives his team an advantage, and he also credits the many strengths on the team across all events as being another benefit when racing in dual meets. The Wolfpack men\u2019s team lost to UNC last year in dual meet action, and Holloway said \u201cit irritated them, \u2026 and they were just hungry today.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the ACC meet, the challenges of trying to overthrow Virginia Tech as conference champions will include a Louisville team that is equally matched. The diving component of the meet is the team\u2019s biggest hurdle, Holloway said, but that is one of many areas he\u2019s looking to improve in the coming years.<\/p>\n