Vols, Lady Vols Fall Short at Top-Five Ranked NC State

Friday, October 15

Raleigh, NC

5:00 PM

University of Tennessee

NC State

Vols, Lady Vols Fall Short at Top-Five Ranked NC State

October 15, 2021 | Swimming & Diving

Results

RALEIGH, N.C. – Tennessee swimming and diving came up short Friday night at NC State, as the Vols and Lady Vols fell to a pair of top-five foes at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center.

The women dropped the meet 176-124 to the No. 3 Wolfpack, who finished as the national runner up last season. While the men had some impressive moments throughout the meet, fourth-ranked NC State came out with the 205-95 victory.

"There were a number of impressive, committed efforts for the men today," associate head coach Rich Murphy said. "Jarel Dillard continued his inspirational career with two breaststroke wins. Kayky Mota scored a lot of points for his team, including a win in the 200 fly, which was timely and gave our men an added boost. Jordan Crooks made a big contribution, once again, and helped his teammates. Fellow freshman Gus Rothrock and sophomore Harrison Lierz continue to make strides. We look forward to their ongoing contributions. We will learn the lessons from today and be better for it moving forward. We appreciate the competitiveness of NC State in their home pool."

Dillard had a strong performance, sweeping the breaststroke for the Vols and posting a pair of NCAA B Cut times in the 100 breast (52.84) and 200 breast (1:56.71). Michael Houlie, who finished second in the 100 breast with a time of 53.50, and Lyubomir Epitropov, who took third in the 200 breast behind a mark of 1:57.38, also notched NCAA B Cut times in their respective events.

Mota had a dominant showing in the 200 butterfly, notching an NCAA B Cut time of 1:45.76 to finish first by nearly two seconds. Crooks recorded the second-best time in the 100 freestyle with a mark of 44.22. He would throw down a personal-best 43.94 split in the 400 freestyle relay, helping the squad to a third-place finish to end the meet.

In diving, both Grace Cable and Bryden Hattie won both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards for the second-straight meet. Bryden posted scores of 319.28 and 353.25, respectively. Cable recorded the best women's score on the 1-meter at 299.48 and followed it up with a 301.83 3-meter mark.

"We competed here years ago, but I never remember coming to a meet where the conditions were as tough and adverse for the divers as they were today," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "The environment and facility lend itself to being a tough place to dive in. It is extremely loud. I was really proud of our divers for the way we handled an enormous amount of adversity. Sweeping all the events is a real credit to our team. We didn't have our best day, but I'm proud of the way our divers competed and handled themselves."

One of the bright spots on the day for the women was when freshmen Julia Mrozinski (1:47.81) and Brooklyn Douthwright (1:48.54) finished first and second in the 200 freestyle. Douthwright also took second in the 100 free with a time of 50.02, while Mrozinski nabbed third.

Two of the best races came in the women's 100 and 200 breaststroke between Olympian Mona McSharry and NC State's Sophie Hansson, who is the reigning NCAA champion in both events. The two were neck and neck in both races, but McSharry narrowly missed getting the wins, finishing second with a pair of NCAA B Cut times.

Josephine Fuller posted the second-fastest time in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 54.16. Sara Stotler (2nd/1:57.30), Summer Smith (3rd/1:59.92) and Mallory Beil (4th/2:00.70) scored points in the 200 fly.

Jasmine Rumley (2nd/22.80) and McSharry (3rd/22.98) were part of a 50 freestyle race where first to third was determined by 0.32 seconds. Kristen Stege notched a second-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 4:53.02, while Aly Breslin and Summer Eaker also scored points in the event.

The Lady Vols narrowly missed getting the win in the 400 freestyle relay by 0.18 seconds. Mrozinski, Douthwright, Rumley and Tjasa Pintar teamed up to post a time of 3:19.56. UT also finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:39.42) with a lineup of Olivia Harper, McSharry, Trude Rothrock and Rumley.

"Lady Vol swimming and diving competed relentlessly today," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "I'm proud of the effort from all of our athletes. We were exposed in areas that we need to be better, and yet, I see a lot of improvement already this season. There was great leadership from our veteran athletes, and everyone was tested in the competitive environment that NC State created. We grew today as a team, and we are looking forward to tomorrow morning."

The two squads will face off again Saturday morning at 10 a.m. for a B meet, but that competition will not be scored.

Up next, Tennessee will host Louisville (Oct. 21) at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center for its home opener. The meet starts at 2 p.m. and will be honoring UT's Olympic Tradition, with past and present Olympians being recognized and LVFLs Erika Brown and Molly Hannis signing autographs for fans during the meet.

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