University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Missouri
Vols Sweep Mizzou in Road Dual Meet
October 15, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- The Tennessee Volunteers started its two-day swimming and diving road trip with a sweep of the Missouri Tigers on Thursday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The UT men beat Missouri 176-124 and the women's squad earned a 164-136 victory over the Tigers. Both Tennessee teams improved to 2-0.
The Vols hopped on a plane shortly after the match. The team competes at Virginia on Friday with diving scheduled for noon and swimming at 3 p.m.
Versatile sophomore Sam McHugh led the way for the Vols by winning three events, the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.76), the 200 butterfly (1:47.78) and the 200 IM (1:49.29). His endurance and recovery was put to the test early, getting only about an eight-minute break between his freestyle and butterfly wins.
The Tennessee men and women trailed early to start the meet after both teams narrowly lost the 200 medley relays, races the teams rarely lose in dual meets. The loss did not derail the Vols. Both teams rebounded to win the next three races: the 1000 freestyle, the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke.
"I knew it would be a test for us, and we didn't seem rattled at all," Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich said. "In the next two or three events, we were pretty outstanding."
The Tennessee women won nine of 16 events, pulling away from Missouri thanks to roster depth. The Vols had two 1-2-3 finishes during the meet (50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly) and took the top four spots in the 500 freestyle, won by Madeline Tegner.
Tegner won both the 500 freestyle (4:54.21) and 1000 freestyle (10:03.07). On the shorter end of the freestyle events, senior Faith Johnson won the 50 freestyle (22.81) and the 100 freestyle (50.39).
"We had a lot of people step up for the women, but what impressed me most was our depth," Kredich said. "We have a lot of depth in a lot of events. They're pushing each other in practice and in meets. They were challenged today by Missouri and by each other."
The Tennessee men won 10 of 16 events.
Sean Lehane joined McHugh as a multi-race winner. He took first in the 100 backstroke (47.84) and the 200 backstroke (1:43.41). The senior backstroker is coming off a year in which he defended his SEC title in the 200-yard backstroke and took second in the event at NCAAs and followed that with a gold medal at the Pan Am Games in the 200-meter backstroke.
"Sean was spectacular in all his events," Kredich said. "He's pretty driven right now and making a statement every time he gets in the water."
Diving returned to a six-list format for the first time this season against a Missouri squad that regularly produces divers who compete on the national stage. Senior Mauricio Robles came away with the Vols' only win on the boards, winning the 3-meter competition with a score of 388.43. He took second on 1 meter.
In a highlight on the women's side, freshman Rachel Rubadue was second on the 3-meter springboard (290.55).
"It was a real mixed bag of performances," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "Mauricio won 3-meter using a new dive, which was good, but he was a little off his game on 1 meter and Liam [Stone] was a little off his game all day long. Rachel had nice work placing second on 3-meter in her debut. She has room for improvement, which is good.
"It was our first meet for a normal format, so this was like our first time out. It was difficult going against good Missouri divers. For the most part, I was pretty happy."
