Vols and Lady Vols Sweep Florida for First Time in Program History

Saturday, February 1

Knoxville, TN

10 AM

University of Tennessee

Florida

Photo by: John Golliher/Tennessee Athletics

Vols and Lady Vols Sweep Florida for First Time in Program History

February 01, 2020 | Swimming & Diving

Results

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – History was made Saturday at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center as the fourth-ranked Lady Vols (8-0) and 12th-ranked Vols (7-1) swept Florida for the first time in program history.

Going into the senior day dual meet, the Vols had beaten the Gator men 19 times while the Lady Vols had earned four wins over the Gator women. They had never combined for the dual meet sweep until Saturday.

"I am thrilled for the seniors that they have been a part of some unique experiences," director of swimming and diving Matt Kredich said. "I can't think of a more deserving group and they have provided leadership in so many different ways, maybe most importantly in competitive situations. They are an incredible group of competitors. It is a great tribute to them in their leadership that the women are undefeated and that we beat a really strong Florida team in both genders. It's an achievement that I hope the seniors feel like they can own."

The Lady Vols made even more history as they finished the season undefeated for the first time since the 1972-73 season, and for just the third time in program history. They also secured their sixth win over a top 25 team this season with their 170.5-129.5 win over the eighth-ranked Gator women.

The women now have five wins over Florida all-time and have won two of the last three, including the last two meetings in Knoxville.

With the men's 156-144 victory over Florida, they finish the season 7-1, their best finish since the 2001-02 season. It is also the first time the Vols have beaten the Gators since 2008. The victory is their 20th all-time against Florida.

Tennessee's men and women set a combined six new meet records on Saturday. Erika Brown set meet records in the 100 free (48.51) and 100 fly (51.91) while newcomer Kayky Mota went 47.07 in the men's 100 fly. Amanda Nunan set a new school and meet record in the 1,000 at 9:37.08. Meghan Small turned in a meet record 1:57.22 in the 200 IM, while the Lady Vols' 400 free relay of Brown, Bailey Grinter, Tjasa Pintar and Stanzi Moseley posted a meet record 3:18.04.

Brown led the Lady Vols Saturday as she brought home three individual event wins for the second week in-a-row. The Charlotte, N.C., native won the 200 free with a time of 1:45.81 before winning the 100 free (48.51) and 100 fly (51.91).

Brown also lead off the Lady Vols' winning 400 free relay (3:18.04) with a split of 48.19.

"Erika's joy and love to compete is what continues to keep her incredibly competitive," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "It makes her great. She loves this team, she loves her other seniors and loves competing and competes with joy and I think that's a recipe for doing incredible things whenever you want too."

While Brown took the 50 free off, Grinter stepped up and took home the win for Tennessee. The junior laid down a time of 22.62, finishing ahead of teammates Moseley (22.85) and Natalie Ungaretti (22.90).

Grinter placed fourth in the 100 free (50.08) while helping the 200 medley relay finish second and swimming second on the 400 free relay.

"Bailey has been great," Jahn said. "She also loves to compete and is always looking for ways to get better. All season we've seen her continue to make little jumps, little strides, watching video and taking away more information from practice. She's doing the little things to make herself better and is executing at a higher level and is doing it with joy and for her team."

Nunan picked up right where she left off last week as she set a new school and meet record in the 1,000 free, hitting the wall at 9:37.08. She followed up that performance with a win in the 500 free, touching the wall in 4:44.67.

"Amanda is in a great place," Jahn said. "She is really excited and has been putting a lot of work in, as have all of our athletes. She is reaping the benefits of all the work she has put in and is constantly adjusting and she is paying attention to her races and knows how to execute in the race. Each time she is executing better and made changes from last week to this week and hit on them today."

On the men's side, Mota brought home wins in the 100 and 200 fly finishing with times of 47.07 and 1:47.31, respectively.

Alec Connolly picked up two more wins for UT in the 50 and 100 free, hitting the wall in 19.77 and 43.87.

"All of this started last week," associate head coach Lance Asti said. "Last Saturday we took a hit from Georgia and had a loss, our only one and we handled the loss brilliantly. The leaders pulled these guys in and we had a fantastic week of training. We were all in and made adjustments from the Georgia meet, but the seniors got them ready for this week and put that loss behind us."

Michael Houlie won in the 100 breast (53.68) while Matthew Garcia took home a victory in the 100 back at 47.56.

The men also won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:26.41.

"We started the season talking about being underdogs and one of our senior leaders, Braga Verhage, said we needed to stop," Asti said. "We need to expect to win, that's what the alumni say and we can't both be underdogs and expect to win. The attitude changed and we quit talking about being the underdog. We came into this meet expecting to beat Florida and that's the attitude they have brought to every meet. Win or lose we expect to be the alpha. I am really happy with how these guys are competing."

In diving, Matthew Wade returned to compete on both boards for the first time this season, winning both. He won on 1-meter with a score of 333.53 and on 3-meter with a total dive score of 403.20. Wade has missed most of the season with a foot injury, competing on Saturday for just the second time this year.

"I can't tell you how special what he is doing is," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "It might be difficult for people who are not intimately involved with the sport, but to see Matthew come back from his Spanish nationals and his injury and see him get a qualifying score in good style on 1-meter and go over 400 on 3-meter, is really special. That was really exciting and a special thing for me to be a part of and witness."

Keegan Richardson finished second on 1-meter (296.48) and third on 3-meter (354.23) while on the women's side, sophomore Grace Cable finished third on 3-meter (312.08) and fourth on 1-meter (280.43).

UP NEXT

Tennessee will have two weeks of training before heading down to Auburn for the 2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.