Vols and Lady Vols Use Dominant Performances To Remain Undefeated

Saturday, November 9

Knoxville, TN

11 AM

University of Tennessee

Georgia Tech (Men)

Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

Vols and Lady Vols Use Dominant Performances To Remain Undefeated

November 09, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

Results vs. Georgia Tech Results vs. Vanderbilt

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 10 Vols and No. 3 Lady Vols split up Saturday as the men's swimming and diving team competed against Georgia Tech and the women took on in-state rival Vanderbilt from the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

The Vols defeated the Yellow Jackets 181-119 while the Lady Vols cruised to a 198-61 victory.

The men's squad opened the day against Georgia Tech, winning 12 of 16 events and got a three-win day from senior Alec Connolly.

The Knoxville native took wins in the 200 freestyle (1:37.28), 50 freestyle (20.21) and 100 freestyle (44.16) before closing out his day anchoring the 200 freestyle relay. The relay turned in a 1:20.10, the seventh-ranked relay nationally, with Connolly splitting at 19.47.

"It wasn't an easy lineup for Alec today," associate head coach Lance Asti said. "He showed his toughness and dug deep to keep getting to the wall first. I am really pleased with his day and where he is at to this point in the year."

Taylor Abbott, Michael Houlie and Matthew Garcia each hit the wall first in two events with Abbott remaining unbeaten this season in distance races.

A senior from Cedar Park, Texas, Abbott opened the meet with a win in the 1650 free (15:01.36) and followed it up with a victory in the 500 free (4:29.55). On the weekend, Abbott brought home five race wins for UT.

"He has been a great performer all year for us," Asti said. "He is seeing continued improvement in his races and gets better every time out, but is also helping to lead our younger guys and aiding in their development. Taylor is having a big year and we are excited to see where it ends up."

Garcia picked up wins Saturday in the 100 backstroke (48.51), 200 backstroke (1:47.77) and swam leadoff for the Vols' victorious 400 medley relay (3:12.72).

"He has been consistent," Asti said. "He is consistent in his leadership, consistent in his training and consistent in the way he competes each week. Especially in the relay leg, that is a season best if I'm not mistaken. He keeps finding little things to improve on and keeps getting better."

Houlie continued to flex his breaststroke prowess Saturday, taking home wins in the 100 and 200 breast. The sophomore stopped the clock in the 100 breast at 53.21 and in the 200 at 1:58.43.

"I told the guys that was one of the most fun fall dual meet seasons that we've had," Asti said. "We competed at a higher level than we ever have against consistently tough competition. These guys are in a really good spot competitively and I am excited for the Tennessee Invite. We're going to get a little bit of rest, put on the fast suits and we're going to fly."

Will Hallam had a solid meet against Georgia Tech on the diving side, finishing first on the 3-meter board with a score of 399.98, a new personal best. The junior placed second on 1-meter at 316.05.

"I was really impressed with Will," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "It was good to see him come in on day two, I know he was a little tired coming in this morning but he had a very professional approach in everything we did. He was ready to perform today."

The women hit the water against Vanderbilt in the second meet of the day, running a different lineup than usual, but showed their depth as the Lady Vols swept the Commodores, winning all 14 events.

Associate head coach Ashley Jahn said mixing up the lineup helps develop the team's versatility and gives the coaching staff options in different events as UT continues to move towards championship season.

"It helps them with their versatility and figuring out race plans and getting an opportunity to play with some of the things they are working on in practice," Jahn said. "For some, they were able to compete in events so we can make decisions on what they will swim at the invite. You don't have the opportunity very often to swim a 400 IM so we were really thankful that Vanderbilt was interested in swimming a 400 today. That is a challenging race and sometimes the experience of swimming it unsuited can really help."

Fourteen different Lady Vols won events Saturday, spearheaded by Mallory Beil who won the 50 free with a time of 23.64. Beil swam on both the 400 medley relay and 200 free relay, helping to earn two more victories for Tennessee.

"Mallory did great today," Jahn said. "The win in the 50 free was phenomenal and she had an opportunity to exhibition the 100 fly and turned in a great performance there as well. She helped on both relays and it was really fun to see her take control and win some events today."

Freshman Whittney Hamilton took home the first victory of her collegiate career in the 100 butterfly, swimming a 55.68. The Roanoke, Va., native also turned in a solid performance in the 50 free, touching the wall second at 23.72.

"I thought her race was great," Jahn said. "Whittney is doing a really good job of developing her underwater speed and she is getting better and better around the walls and being thoughtful in how she executes her races. It was great to see that come up in a win today."

UP NEXT
The Vols and Lady Vols will have a week of training before welcoming three of the nation's top teams to Knoxville for the Tennessee Invitational. No. 4/13 Virginia, No. 6/18 Indiana and No. 12/14 Georgia will be in town Nov. 21-23.

Men's Results
400 Medley Relay – Tennessee (Garcia, Houlie, Verhage, Briggs) – 3:12.72

1650 Freestyle Relay – Taylor Abbott, TENN – 15:01.36

200 Freestyle – Alec Connolly, TENN – 1:37.28

100 Backstroke – Matthew Garcia, TENN – 48.51

100 Breaststroke – Michael Houlie, TENN – 53.21

200 Butterfly – Christian Ferraro, GT – 1:47.63

50 Freestyle – Alec Connolly, TENN – 20.21

1-Meter Springboard – Ruben Lechuga Gonzalez, GT – 358.13

100 Freestyle – Alec Connolly, TENN – 44.16

200 Backstroke – Matthew Garcia, TENN – 1:47.77

200 Breaststroke – Michael Houlie, TENN – 1:58.43

500 Freestyle – Taylor Abbott, TENN – 4:29.55

100 Butterfly – Christian Ferraro, GT – 48.48

3-Meter Diving – Will Hallam, TENN – 399.98

200 IM – Caio Pumputis, GT – 1:48.93

200 Freestyle Relay – Tennessee (Verhage, Briggs, Scanlon, Connolly) – 1:20.10

Women's Results
400 Medley Relay – Tennessee (Harty, Pintar, Beil, Johnson) – 3:43.07

1000 Freestyle – Alexis Yager, TENN – 10:21.25

200 Freestyle – Stanzi Moseley, TENN – 1:50.51

100 Backstroke – Erika Brown, TENN – 53.93

100 Breaststroke – Meghan Small, TENN – 1:01.97

200 Butterfly – McKenna Morello, TENN – 2:02.89

50 Freestyle – Mallory Beil, TENN – 23.64

100 Freestyle – Trude Rothrock, TENN – 49.84

200 Backstroke – Danika Katzer, TENN – 1:59.51

200 Breaststroke – Tjasa Pintar, TENN – 2:19.11

500 Freestyle – Amanda Nunan, TENN – 4:55.86

100 Butterfly – Whittney Hamilton, TENN – 55.68

400 IM – Tess Cieplucha, TENN – 4:11.17

200 Freestyle Relay – Tennessee, (Moseley, Grinter, Beil, Gebel) – 1:33.12