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Virginia nabs historic fourth ACC crown

The Virginia women's swimming and diving team collected its fourth consecutive ACC title this past weekend, becoming the first women's team in the history of the program to earn four titles in as many years.

Virginia did not face an easy road to repeating as conference champions. The Cavaliers were forced to rally from 37 points behind long-time rival North Carolina during the final day of competition to earn the program's ninth ACC championship title. The Cavaliers finished the weekend tournament with a total of 776 points - 42 points ahead of the Tar Heels and 359 points ahead of third-place finisher Florida State.

Lauren Perdue paced the Virginia women with first-place finishes in the 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay. The standout sophomore broke the ACC record in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall at 47.88. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Perdue was named the ACC Championship's Most Outstanding Swimmer for the second year in a row.

Freshman Rachel Naurath also nabbed a first-place finish for the Cavaliers in the 200 butterfly, putting Virginia ahead of the Tar Heels heading into the final race of the meet. Naurath's teammates, seniors Liz Shaw and Claire Crippen, touched second and third, respectively, to give the Cavaliers the sweep in the crucial event.

Shaw and Crippen, as well as the rest of the senior members of the squad, became the first class of seniors to boast an unblemished career ACC Championship record with the victory.

The squad will now begin preparation for the NCAA Championships, slated to begin March 17 in Austin, Texas.

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