Cardinals Defeat Tennessee in Top-25 Showdown

Thursday, October 25

Knoxville, TN

2:00 P.M.

University of Louisville

Tennessee

Louisville Cardinal swimmers in action against Xavier at Ralph Wright Natatorium on October 6.

October 25, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

Video: Arthur Albiero Final Results

The Cardinals recorded a combined 20 victories to beat the Volunteers.

By: Kylie Klotzbach

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In a tightly-contested battle between top-25 teams, the University of Louisville men's and women's swimming and diving teams won a combined 20 events to capture a pair of victories over No. 15/24 Tennessee on Thursday afternoon at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center. The No. 8 Louisville women won 155-145, while the No. 13 men won the final two events of the day to overtake Tennessee 156-144.

"I loved the way our team competed today," said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. "There was great energy until the end, and not everything went our way, but that's normally how things happen in situations like this. I love our team's resolve. We really stuck together and competed for the team. We tried not to pay too much attention to the scoreboard. It was just let's go swim, perform, compete every race, every little point. Ultimately, the outcome was two good wins on the road against a very good team."

The Cardinals kicked off the meet with a sweep of the 200 medley relays, using a pair of swift freestyle splits to secure the victories. The team of Alina Kendzior (25.23), Mariia Astashkina (28.21), Grace Oglesby (24.17) and Mallory Comerford (22.00) won in a time of 1:39.61, while Nicolas Albiero (22.09), Evgenii Somov (24.83), Zach Harting (21.18) and Andrej Barna (19.33) combined for a time of 1:27.43.

Building on the momentum from the early wins, Sophie Cattermole and Arina Openysheva put together a one-two finish in the 1000 free, posting times of 9:58.17 and 9:59.18 respectively. In the men's event, Marcelo Acosta finished first by nearly six seconds, posting a time of 9:08.10.

Mallory Comerford picked up the fifth win of the day for the Cards, stopping the clock in an NCAA B cut time of 1:46.34 in the 200 free. Diana Dunn also put together a solid performance, placing third with a 1:49.15. Colton Paulson led the way for Louisville in the men's event, touching second with a time of 1:38.51. Jarrett Jones finished closely behind in third (1:38.67), while Samuel Steele was fourth (1:39.37).

In the 100 back, Kendzior finished second with an NCAA B cut time of 53.94. Ashlyn Schoof was third with a 55.86. Albiero also touched second in the men's event, posting a time of 48.04.

With a dominant final 25-yards, Astashkina touched first in the 100 breast in a time of 1:02.29. Somov was the Cards' top finisher in the men's race, placing second with a 55.35.

Oglesby captured the victory in the 200 fly, touching in an NCAA B cut time of 1:58.95, while Alena Kraus took third in a time of 2:01.46. Harting led from wire-to-wire in the men's 200 fly, winning by nearly two seconds in a time of 1:47.38. Daniel Sos took third with a 1:50.18.

Openysheva and Avery Braunecker finished second and third in the 50 free, registering times of 23.09 and 23.11 respectively. Barna won the men's race with a 19.98, the only swimmer to break 20 seconds on the day.

In the opening diving events of the afternoon, Molly Fears collected a first place finish on the 3-meter with an NCAA Zone qualifying score of 315.53. Daniel Fecteau finished second on the 1-meter with a score of 336.15, also an NCAA Zone cut.

Comerford recorded her second individual victory of the day in the 100 free, swimming to another NCAA B cut time of 48.54. Barna also registered his second win, out-touching Tennessee's Alec Connolly to secure the victory in a time of 44.29.

Recording her second NCAA B cut of meet, Kenzdior won the 200 back in a time of 1:56.87. In the men's event, Albiero also notched a win, touching the wall in a time of 1:45.06.

Coming from behind on the final lap once again, Astashkina edged Tennessee's Meghan Small by just 0.01 in the 200 breast to capture the win in a time of 2:15.04. In the men's event, Somov placed second (2:01.52), followed by Sos in third (2:04.59).

Cattermole led the way for Louisville in the 500 free, placing second with a time of 4:52.84. Openysheva followed in third with a 4:54.55. Acosta posted another dominant performance in the men's event, winning by over three seconds in a time of 4:26.87.

In the 100 fly, Oglesby was the top finisher for Louisville, taking second in a time of 53.91. Harting completed the sweep of the butterfly events, registering a first place finish with a time of 48.01. Nikkos Sofianidis also put together a strong swim, placing third with a 49.48.

Fears completed a sweep of the diving events, posting an NCAA Zone qualifying score of 286.05 to win the 1-meter. Fecteau also earned an NCAA Zone cut, placing third on the 3-meter with a 342.60.

Dunn was the Cards' top finisher in the 200 IM, placing fourth with a 2:03.99. Jarrett Jones and Sos put together a crucial one-two finish in the men's event as Jones picked up the win with a time of 1:49.83, followed by Sos with a time of 1:50.21.

Openysheva (50.36), Katie Schorr (50.83), Comerford (47.96) and Braunecker (50.53) combined for a time of 3:19.68 to finish second in the 400 free relay. On the men's side, Albiero (44.72), Barna (43.30), Somov (44.79) and Harting (44.08) touched first in a time of 2:56.89, cementing the meet win for the Cardinals.