University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Florida
Gators Sweep Vols to Close Out Regular Season
January 31, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 31, 2015
Gainesville, FLA.--Tennessee Swimming and Diving made the trek down to Gainesville Saturday for Senior Day at the University of Florida. After honoring 14 seniors, the Gators stormed out to an early lead and the Vols couldn't catch up, as the Vols fell on both the men's and women's side.
The No. 11 men (6-6, 3-3 SEC) finished their regular season by splitting their dual meets, falling to No. 7 Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC) by a 198.5-99.5 score. The No. 10 women (6-5-1, 2-3-1 SEC) also nearly split their regular season dual meets, falling to the No. 7 Gators 187-105, in the final regular-season dual meet in the careers of the current senior class.
"Our seniors all led us through a merger of our two programs," said Head Coach Matt Kredich. "In order for that to work, we had to have a commitment from everybody on the team that we're going to make it work. As sophomores, they actually took the lead. They've essentially helped us change the vision of Tennessee Swimming and Diving. They competed really well today. Our seniors love competition and are not afraid, and those are things that they've given to our program."
Tennessee earned nine total wins on the afternoon, led by a pair of wins from Molly Hannis, Sam McHugh and diver Liam Stone.
Stone earned his first two victories after sweeping the one-meter and three-meter competitions, beginning the day with a win on one-meter--and a career-best 354.90 on one-meter. Stone finished his day by claiming the top spot in the three-meter event, winning with a score of 352.05.
"It proved to be a very big day for Liam, getting his first two wins as a Tennessee Volunteer," said Head Diving Coach Dave Parrington. "He was just really, really consistent and got more comfortable in this environment. On three-meter, he didn't have a great score, but he kept himself quite composed after receiving a balk (in the early rounds)."
The homestanding Gators won the first eight swimming event until Hannis broke the UF streak by claiming her first victory of the day in the 100-yard breaststroke. The senior earned her ninth win of the season by earning a NCAA B-cut time of 1:00.25 to beat UF's Theresa Michalak.
Hannis repeated her efforts in the 200 Breast, winning the event for the ninth time this season, marking her eighth time sweeping both events in the same dual meet in 2014-15. Hannis defeated Paige Scheriger by earning a 2:12.88 time, her second B-cut time of the day.
Sam McHugh tacked on another pair of wins to his freshman season total, winning the 200 Fly and the 400 IM to lead the men's team. McHugh won the 200 Fly for the eighth time this season, and fourth time in 2015, after winning in 1:45.04, another B-cut time for the Chattanooga freshman.
McHugh later won in the men's penultimate event, tying UF's Matt Elliott to share the first-place honors. His 3:47.14 time gave McHugh another B-cut time and his second win in the event this calendar year.
After Hannis earned her first win of the day, Michelle Cefal and Heather Lundstrom swept the top-two spots in the 200 Fly. The duo finished .07 seconds apart from each other, with Cefal (1:59.08) and Lundstrom (1:59.15) each earning NCAA b-cut times. The win for Cefal is her first of the season, as well as her first time under two minutes.
After the diving break, junior Faith Johnson claimed a victory in the 100 Free, her fifth of the season and third consecutive win. Her 49.98 time qualifies for a B-cut time and the High Point, N.C., native now has finished the event in less than 50 seconds in all but one 100 Free race this season.
Junior Sean Lehane earned the Vols' ninth win of the day by taking first in the 200 Back. After earning second place in the 100 Back earlier in the afternoon, Lehane posted a 1:42.91 time in the 200 to win for the seventh time in 2014-15, as well as the fourth consecutive time.
With the regular season completed, the Vols turn towards the postseason. After a few weeks of practice, Tennessee will head to Auburn, Ala., for the 2015 SEC Championships at Auburn University from Feb. 17-21.
