UT Men Sweep, Women Split in Auburn/Wisconsin Meet

Saturday, October 14

Auburn, AL

10:30 AM

University of Tennessee

Auburn/Wisconsin

October 14, 2017 | Swimming & Diving

Complete Results

AUBURN, Ala. — The Tennessee men swept and the women went 1-1 on Saturday to conclude the top-25 double dual meet against Auburn and Wisconsin.

The No. 18 Tennessee men (3-0, 1-0 SEC) narrowly defeated host and 10th-ranked Auburn 180-173 and beat No. 25 Wisconsin 261-91. The 14th-ranked UT women (2-1, 0-1) beat No. 12 Wisconsin 204-149 but lost to No. 15 Auburn 181-172.

The teams do not face every season, but it was the UT men's first dual meet victory against Auburn since 2008 and the first on the road since 1995 as part of a perfect 7-0 season.

Senior Peter John Stevens earned a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.34), his signature event, and he swam the breaststroke leg on the winning 200 medley relay team with Braga Verhage, Ryan Coetzee and Kyle DeCoursey. The Vols touched the wall more than two seconds ahead of Auburn in the race to lead off Saturday's competition.

Junior transfer Colin Zeng swept the springboard events at the meet, earning a victory on the 1-meter springboard in 377.50, followed by Liam Stone.

Sophomore Taylor Abbott won the 500 freestyle (4:25.89) after recording a pair of second-place finishes Friday.

In total, the UT men won 10 of the 19 men's events.

The Tennessee women earned three more individual events, giving them five for the meet.

Sophomore Tess Cieplucha won the 400 IM by more than six seconds in 4:14.89 and also placed second in the 500 freestyle later in the session. Sophomore Erika Brown won the 100 butterfly in 52.99.

The Lady Vols also won the 400 freestyle relay to conclude the meet as Meghan Small, Erika Brown, Stanzi Moseley and Tjasa Pintar finished in 3:18.95.

UP NEXT: Tennessee hosts Kentucky and Indiana on Oct. 27 at 11 a.m. Eastern. Admission is free.

QUOTES

Tennessee Head Coach Matt Kredich:

"I was really impressed with our competitiveness and focus during a challenging two-day format. We opened with great intensity. We were a little rusty, it seemed, but no one got too rattled by close races we came on the short end of. I think we go better throughout the weekend. It was a tough turnaround. Finished at six and started at nine this morning. It challenged our ability to prepare and endurance. We came out swinging. There were highlights, but I thought in every event, we had people race extraordinarily well and come up with big performances.

"It seemed that Matt Garcia won the 100 backstroke. It turned out he didn't. The timing system said that he didn't, but it was an extraordinary performance by Matt. That built on some momentum we generated. The men's 200 medley relay was very fast for this time of the season. That got us off to a great start today too. There was never momentum taken away from us.

"We have great depth on both teams, more than we've had in recent memory. We can count on a lot of people to be very competitive. If they aren't competing for the win, they're competing for third place. We had people swim in-season best times. When we are in dual meets, we don't expect the same level of performance as someone rested and in a technical suit. We look at the progression and for the most part, we're swimming a lot faster than we have at this time in years past."

Tennessee Diving Coach Dave Parrington:

"On the men's side, I'm pleased to take first and second in both events and Nick (Rusek) taking fourth today. It was good performances this early in the season and good competing, particularly in today's event. They're pushing each other day in and day out in competition.

"I was really pleased with Rachel coming in yesterday and picking up a really good win against an extremely strong diver from Auburn. She's raised her standard and picked up the win. Today, Rachel missed her last two dives to finish second, but it was a very productive weekend for her. Ana (Hernandez) made some freshman mistakes we will continue to work on."