University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Virginia
Vols Drop Close Contest at Virginia
January 09, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 9, 2010
Drew Rutherford
UTsports.com
The No. 11 Tennessee men's swimming and diving team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of ninth-ranked Virginia. The Vols were competitive, but came up just short Saturday at the UVA Fitness and Aquatic Center, losing 163.5-134.5.
"Hats off to Virginia, they defended their home pool with class," head coach John Trembley said. "We knew this would be a tough meet. We were off in a few events, and when you have two evenly matched teams, you can't have that and win."
In the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, the UT team of Ricky Henahan, Mattias Kahlin, Michael DeRocco and Herbie Behm finished second at 1:30.50. The Vols also posted a third place finish with Anders Storvik, Brad Craig, Jordan Walters and Ed Walsh swimming to a 1:31.19 mark.
Junior and co-captain Geoff Sanders led the Vols in the 1000 freestyle with a season-best 9:19.91. Also with a season-best mark, Carl Jones scored in fourth (9:29.53). Scott Friderichs placed sixth (9:50.65).
Ryan Harrison swam to a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle with a 1:39.69 time. Scoring in sixth was Knoxville, Tenn., native Michael Zaczyk with a career-best 1:42.04 time. Junior Chris Winchell placed seventh (1:42.06).
In the 100 back, Henahan placed second at 49.34 with Storvik in fourth with a 50.20 time.
The Vols made up some ground when Craig, Jake Epperson and Kahlin earned a one-two-three finish in the 100 breaststroke. Craig won with a 55.33, Epperson got second at 55.64 and Kahlin came in third with a 56.94 mark.
Less than a second off his career-best, junior Patrick Beasley placed third in the 200 butterfly at 1:50.96. Freshman Giles Smith scored in fourth (1:51.44) and junior Forrest Leary finished sixth (1:55.00).
DeRocco led The Big Orange in the 50 freestyle with a second-place finish (20.69). Behm and Walters tied in fourth (21.41).
Sophomore diver Ryan Helms earned his ninth win of the season on the one-meter springboards with a 351.68 score. Senior co-captain Michael Muscari came in second (324.25) and freshman Jordan Mauney placed fourth (265.35).
Competing in the 100 freestyle for just the second time this season, Smith led the Vols in third (45.83). Walsh tied with Virginia swimmer Danny Walsh for fourth (46.05) and Harrison placed sixth (46.33).
Storvik placed third in the 200 backstroke with a 1:49.34 time. Scoring in sixth was Henahan at 1:52.99. Zaczyk placed seventh (1:53.74). Earning his second win of the day, Craig swam a 2:00.89 in the 200 breaststroke. Epperson finished third (2:03.11) and Kahlin placed fifth (2:05.80).
Jones led The Big Orange in the 500 freestyle with a 4:37.59, fifth-place finish. Sanders came in sixth (4:47.61) and Friderichs finished seventh (4:47.61).
With his first win of the meet, DeRocco swam a 48.75 to earn first place in the 100 butterfly. Smith scored in fifth (50.47). Leary placed sixth (51.55).
Muscari earned his first win of the season with a 343.88 score on the three-meter springboard. Mauney finished third (312.60) and Helms placed sixth (279.98).
In the 200 I.M., Epperson finished in second (1:53.65) with Craig in third (1:53.72). Beasley placed sixth (1:56.25).
To wrap up the meet, Tennessee won the 400 freestyle relay behind the 3:02.51 time posted by DeRocco, Storvik, Henahan and Walsh. The Vols also scored second placed with Zaczyk, Behm, Paschall Davis and Walters swimming a 3:10.32 time.
"In some events we are on track," Trembley said. "We are not on pace in some others. Circumstances should never dictate our attitude, and we are going to get back to work at practice next week."
Results can be found at VirginiaSports.com.
The loss drops the Vols to 4-1 in dual-meets this season and 2-1 on the road. Tennessee will return to action Jan. 23 at Georgia.
Players Mentioned
