No. 11/7 Cardinals Set to Host No. 8/5 Tennessee

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The No. 11/7 ranked University of Louisville men's and women's swim and dive teams are set to host the No. 8/5 Tennessee Volunteers this Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.

This will be the second dual meet of the season for the Cardinals as they are coming off a dominant performance against Xavier earlier this month. The team is also to continue the momentum they earned at last week's SMU classic. A select group of swimmers and divers traveled to Dallas for the two day meet. Out of the six team teams competing, the Louisville women took first place, and the men placed second.

At the SMU Classic, the women's team tallied 329 points. They outscored Auburn (294), Texas A&M (293), Miami (FL) (278), Virginia Tech (253), and SMU (227). The men earned 308 points, trailing only Indiana with 326. They finished over Virginia Tech (303), Auburn (261), Texas A&M (233) and SMU (231). Senior Kim Herkle highlighted the meet with her performance in the 200 breaststroke (209.88) and the 400 IM (4:09.67), taking first place and earning an NCAA B-cut time in both events. Denis Petrashov showed off his breaststroke talent by taking gold in the 100 breaststroke (51.50), breaking the pool record. He claimed second in the 200 breaststroke (1:52.97), marking a B-cut time. Petrashov also helped the Cards take third in both the 400 medley relay (3:07.22) and 200 medley relay (1:24.99). Paige Hetrick put up a great performance across the board, earning top 5 finishes in all five of her events. She placed second in the 200 freestyle (1:46.01) and the 200 backstroke (1:54.94), which was a B-cut time. She also earned a B-cut time when she touched fourth in the 100 backstroke (53.18). Hetrick also played a big role in helping the Cards take first place in the 800 freestyle relay (7:07.46) and second place in the 200 medley relay (1:38.12).

About the Volunteers

The University of Tennessee comes into town with top 10 ranked programs on both the men's and women's side. The men's team is coming off a season in which they finished sixth at the NCAA championships and sent five swimmers to the Olympic Games in Paris this Summer. They return 2023 National Champion, Jordan Crooks. Crooks has earned 21 SEC medals and four program records (50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly) during his time in Knoxville. The Lady Vols enter the season off a fourth place finish at last year's NCAA championships. With the addition of highly regarded freshman Jillian Crooks and Ella Jansen, they now have seven Olympians on their current roster. Back for a fifth year, Mona McSharry looks to continue her dominance in the breaststroke events. She earned a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke at the Olympics this past summer. That adds to her collection as she took silver in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

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Players Mentioned

Kim Herkle

Paige Hetrick

Denis Petrashov

University of Louisville Athletics