No. 13/11 Cardinals Set to Host No. 13 Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 13/11 University of Louisville men's and women's swimming and diving teams are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 25 as they face No. 13 Kentucky.

The Battle of the Bluegrass is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Ralph Wright Natatorium and fans are encouraged to wear red. Diving will begin at noon.

About the Cardinals
The Cardinals are fresh off a sweep of Northwestern where they won 12 events and swept both boards. UofL handily won the Purdue Invitational in November, winning a total of 28 events including all but two relays. Four UofL divers earned NCAA Zone cuts at the NC State/GAC Invitational and 24 Cardinals wrapped up 2019 by competing at the Toyota U.S. Open in Atlanta, Ga.

History was made last season for the Cardinals as they became the first ACC program in history to have both its men's and women's teams finish among the top-five in the team standings at the NCAA Championships in the same year. The women's team recorded their highest finish in program history with a fourth-place showing at NCAAs while the men's team finished a program-high fifth place. The Cardinal men were the team runners-up at the ACC Championships and the women secured third place.

Scouting the Wildcats
The Wildcat men began their season with a win over Notre Dame but fell to Indiana during a tri-meet before going on to take down SEC rival South Carolina. They have also suffered losses to Texas, Missouri, NC State, and Ohio State.

Peter Wetzlar and John Mitchell guide Kentucky in sprint freestyle and on relays while Jakob Clark leads the Wildcats in distance events. On the boards, Chase Lane swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter against South Carolina while Ming Zhang won the 3-meter versus Indiana/Notre Dame and Arkansas/Missouri/NC State.

The 15th-ranked Kentucky women swept the Fighting Irish and the Hoosiers during their season opener, marking the first time since 2007 they defeated Indiana. The Wildcats picked up victories over Ohio and SEC rival Arkansas, but have been defeated by Missouri, Texas, NC State, and Ohio State.

SEC champion and multi-time NCAA finalist Asia Seidt paces the Wildcats in backstroke along with two-time SEC Freshman of the Week Caitlin Brooks. Ali Galyer, Gillian Davey, and Lauren Edleman boast top times for Kentucky in at least two events and Kyndal Knight swept both boards over Indiana/Notre Dame and Ohio/South Carolina.

Last Time Out
Despite winning 12 events, Louisville fell to Kentucky last year in Lexington. Evgenii Somov (100/200 breaststroke) was among the Cardinals' double-event winners, while Nicolas Albiero won both backstroke events including a UofL sweep in the 100 backstroke with Mitchell Whyte and Nikolaos Sofianidis. Grace Oglesby and Alena Kraus delivered a 1-2 punch in the 200 butterfly while Avery Braunecker and Arina Openysheva did the same in the 50 freestyle.

Louisville Cardinal Andrej Barna compete against Virginia at Ralph Wright Natatorium on November 3

Louisville Cardinal Andrej Barna compete against Virginia at Ralph Wright Natatorium on November 3

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Players Mentioned

Nicolas Albiero

Avery Braunecker

Alena Kraus

Grace Oglesby

Arina Openysheva

Nikolaos Sofianidis

Evgenii Somov

Mitchell Whyte

University of Louisville Athletics