University of Tennessee Athletics
S&D Remains Unbeaten
October 30, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 30, 2010
By Todd Mounce, Media Relations Graduate Assistant
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team made their road trip through "The Bluegrass State" a perfect one, as the squad topped Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky on Saturday morning by a score of 177.5-122.5 at the Lancaster Aquatic Center.
Coming off a win over the University of the Cumberlands on Friday afternoon, the Big Orange (4-0 overall, 2-0 SEC) got off to a bit of a slow start, but picked it up in the second half of the dual to earn the win over the Wildcats.
"We started off a little bit sluggish but we got better as the meet went on," said Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich. "Lindsay Gendron was really good in the 500y free and 200y IM and Kelsey Floyd's 200y fly was the second fastest in school history and for an October meet that is a really good swim."
In all, Gendron, a freshman, won a total of three individual events for the second straight week. The Bloomington, Ill., native had first-place finishes in the 200y free (1:48.40), 500y free (4:48.88) and the 200y IM (2:03.63). Both free event finishes were NCAA B-cut times.
Floyd, a sophomore, put her talents on display in her hometown, as the Lexington, Ky., native swam a personal-best and NCAA B-cut time in the 200y fly (1:57.96) to win the event. Floyd added another victory in the 200y back, as she nabbed first by touching in at 2:00.67.
In the breast events, senior Martina Moravcikova notched victories in both the 100y (1:02.56) and 200y (2:17.81) events. Both times were season bests for the senior, as she improved her already NCAA B-cut time in the 100y breast.
Senior Aleksa Akerfelds and junior Jenny Connolly each grabbed individual wins against UK. After both sat out the individual events in the season opener against Arkansas, Akerfelds got her first win of the season in the 1000y free (10:09.34), while Connolly competed in the 50y free for the first time this season and won the event with a time of 23.31.
Mary Kate McNeilis, a freshman, also added a victory for Tennessee in the 100y back (56.18). By winning the event, the Dublin, Ohio, native has won an event in all three meets, with this being her first in a back event.
"It's important to learn how to compete while on the road," said head swimming coach Matt Kredich. "We have done a really good job of creating the environment we want to have at our home pool and it took us a while to figure out how to do that today at a different pool. The experience of being on the road is really important and a win is always good whether it's on the road or at home."
On the boards, the Lady Vols were without the services of redshirt freshman Tori Lamp, who has won both the 1- and 3-meter diving events the last two meets. As a result, the Lady Vols captured second through fifth on the 1-meter and second through fourth on the 3-meter.
Junior Gabrielle Trudeau was the top finisher for UT on the 1-meter, with a score of 261.23. Behind her were freshman Julianne Wilson (238.20), sophomore Skye Sanders (217.05) and senior Jill Pierce (212.70). On the 3-meter, Pierce finished runner-up (237.07), followed by Trudeau (236.10) and Wilson (230.25).
"We had a couple highlights, but for the most part is was a very average day for us," said Tennessee head diving coach Dave Parrington. "Today showed some mental strengthening areas that we need to work and improve on."
For Kentucky, Lisa Faulkner swept the diving events with scores of 284.40 on the 1-meter and 297.23 on the 3-meter. Kayla Sergesketter won the 100y free (50.58), while Mandy Myers nabbed first in the 100y fly (55.47). UK also won both relay events, taking the 200y medley (1:44.15) and 200y free (1:33.53) relays.
The Lady Vols will be on a two week hiatus, as the team doesn't return to action until Nov. 18-20, when it hosts the Tennessee Invitational at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
