The Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams took to the pool at home Saturday for their first meet at the Aquatic and Fitness Center since last January. Swimming in front of home fans for the first time this season, the No. 11 Cavalier women (7-0) and No. 15 Virginia men's team (4-3) defeated visiting Pittsburgh by scores of 159-133 and 162-130, respectively.
After battling rival North Carolina last week in a highly anticipated showdown, Virginia avoided an emotional letdown against the Panther men (4-4) and women (4-6).
Racing against a team with less pedigree than the perennially tough Tar Heels did little to subdue the Cavaliers' competitive spirit as coach Mark Bernardino and his assistants look to decide their lineup for the ACC Championship in February.
"Everybody was pretty excited to have our first opportunity to swim in our pool," Bernardino said. "We had some nice results. [We had] mixed results but some performances that will help us as a coaching staff make good decisions when it comes time to select our ACC travel squad."
Neither Virginia team took long to establish its dominance as both the men and women opened the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay.
Senior diver Briggy Imbriglia and freshman teammate JB Kolod set the tone early for the men with a 1-2 finish. Pittsburgh briefly captured an early confidence boost for the women's team with a 1-2 showing of its own in the diving competition by junior Brittany Disanti and freshman Angelika McGhee.
"JB and I did what we needed to do," Imbriglia said. "We