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Virginia swimming and diving close the regular season with strong weekend against ACC foes

The women dominated both NC State and North Carolina, while the men defeated North Carolina but fell to NC State

<p>No. 17 men's swim and dive couldn't complete the upset against No. 7 NC State.&nbsp;</p>

No. 17 men's swim and dive couldn't complete the upset against No. 7 NC State. 

The Virginia swimming and diving teams closed the regular season by hosting ACC competitors NC State Friday and North Carolina Saturday. While the men could not get past NC State, the Cavaliers had an otherwise dominant weekend.

NC State — Friday

Virginia swimming and diving opened the weekend by splitting their matchups with NC State as the No. 6 women’s team took down the No. 3 Wolfpack 173-127, while the No. 17 men’s team came up short, falling 169-131 to No. 7 NC State.

The Cavalier women had a historic day in the pool as the team combined to set five Aquatic and Fitness Center records  — three individual and two relay.

Junior Paige Madden set the new facility mark in the 200-yard freestyle by posting a time of 1:44.66, sophomore Alexis Wenger broke the 100-yard breaststroke record with a time of 59.58 and freshman Kate Douglass took down her own record in the 200-yard breaststroke by swimming a time 2:06.98.

Additionally, Virginia set new standards in the 200-yard medley relay — the first event of the day — and the 400-yard freestyle relay, recording time of 1:35.40 and 3:16.62, respectively.

The Cavaliers had plenty of other strong performances as Madden claimed two more victories in the 1000-yard and 500-yard freestyle and Douglass took first place in the 50-yard freestyle. Junior Abby Richter captured a win in the 200-yard butterfly.

Senior diver Sydney Dusel swept the two diving events by scoring a 303.60 in the 1-meter board and a 317.33 in the 3-meter board.

On the men’s side,  four individuals won events in the hard-fought losing effort.

Junior Keefer Barnum recorded a time of 53.66 to win the 100-yard breaststroke, sophomore Casey Storch placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:47.99 and junior Matthew Otto won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:57.92. On the diving board, senior Bryce Shelton finished with a score of 322.73 to win the 1-meter board.

"This was a great team performance this afternoon," Coach Todd DeSorbo said after the meet. "We talk continuously about everybody on the team stepping up, everybody on the team knowing their role and everybody on the team being focused and committed to that role, and tonight both the men and women really came out and showed that.”

North Carolina — Saturday

Against North Carolina, both the Virginia men’s and women’s teams dominated en route to convincing victories, as the No. 6 women’s team took down the No. 15 Tar Heels 171.5-125.5, and the No. 17 men’s team defeated North Carolina 181-118.

Just as they did Friday, the Cavaliers set five more Aquatic and Fitness Center records. This time, the men were able to put themselves in the record books with a pair of outstanding performances.

Senior Ted Schubert claimed the new facility record in the 400-yard individual medley by swimming a time of 3:45.99, and the men’s 400 yard medley relay set a pool record by posting a time of 3:12.25.

Elsewhere, the men had a phenomenal day with 10 individual victories. Schubert also won the 200-yard butterfly, Otto placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle and 200-yard breaststroke and senior Ryan Baker captured wins in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle.

Senior Joe Clark won the 100-yard backstroke, junior Samuel Schilling finished first in the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Justin Grender won the 200-yard backstroke, freshman Jack Wright claimed the 500-yard freestyle and freshman Konnar Klinksiek won the 100-yard butterfly.

The men’s 200-yard freestyle closed the meet with a win as well.

The women had an equally impressive day by first setting the pool record in the 400-yard medley relay — just as the men did — and Douglass added to her already incredible freshman year by recording a time of 52.34 in the 100-yard butterfly to set a new facility record.

Virginia finished off the record-setting weekend in the 200-yard freestyle, recording a time of 1:29.86.

Additionally, freshman Maddie Donohoe won the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle, Madden captured a first place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, Wenger won the 100-yard breaststroke, Douglass finished first in the 200-yard butterfly, freshman Ella Nelson led the way in the 400-yard individual medley and senior Morgan Hill tied for first in the 50-yard freestyle.

Dusel continued her strong weekend on the diving board by sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter board with scores of 292.43 and 357.08, respectively.

"Happy for our teams finishing off a tough weekend of racing with some great wins against a much improved UNC program,” DeSorbo said.

After a busy start to the new year, the Cavaliers will have an extended break before the women return to action Feb. 19 and the men Feb. 26 to compete in the ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C.

“Now we begin to zero in on the championship season,” DeSorbo said. “I think there will be some good things in store for the Hoos coming up. Our squads are deep, and they are balanced. It's going to be fun to see what they accomplish in February and March during championship season."

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