University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL SWIMMING AND DIVING WELCOMES LSU AND VIRGINIA
January 14, 2005 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 14, 2005
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team returns to action on Saturday, playing host to LSU and No. 15 Virginia in a double dual meet set to begin at noon. It is the final home event of the year for UT and six Lady Vols will be honored on Senior Day.
"Virginia is a team that is ranked 15th in the country," Head Coach Dan Colella said. "It is definitely a program that is solid from top to bottom. We're just hoping that we can give them great competition in every event. I think it could be really exciting and go down to the end.
"LSU has some quality individuals who I am sure will be real competitive."
Tennessee enters the meet with a 3-1 record after falling to Northwestern, 184-167, and defeating Arkansas, 121-111, last weekend. The Big Orange has had a solid campaign to this point, as already Lady Vol provisionally qualified in the 100y, 200y, 500y freestyles, 100y and 200y backstroke, and the 200y and 400y IM. UT also has one swimmer, Julia Stowers (Knoxville, Tenn.) with an automatic qualifying mark, coming in the 1650y freestyle. Additionally, the Lady Vols will be sending at least two divers to the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships.
Virginia is 6-0 on the year and is coming off a 126-106 victory against Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers are led by returning All-Americans Rachel Burke and Brielle White. Burke finished second place at last year's NCAA Championships in the 1500m freestyle while White claimed third place in the 100y backstroke. It is the sixth matchup between No. 15 Virginia and UT all-time, with the Big Orange holding a 3-2 margin. In the teams' last meeting in 1988, the Orange and White won, 143-125.
Meanwhile, LSU is 1-2 on the year under first-year Head Coach Adam Schmitt. They are coming off 140-96 loss to Kentucky, although senior diver Jessica Wantz swept the diving events. UT and the Tigers will be matching up for the seventh time all-time with UT holding the 5-1 lead. The Lady Vols last competed against LSU in 2002, a 128-113 victory, in Baton Rouge, La.
The Lady Vols will then take two weeks off, before traveling to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Florida Gators on Jan. 29, their final competition before the SEC Championships.
