The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Xavier/Mount Union
Swimming and Diving Defeats Mount Union and Xavier on Senior Night
January 30 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Follow Akron Swimming and Diving on Twitter and Facebook
View Full Results
AKRON, Ohio – The Zips won 15-of-16 events on Friday night to propel the University of Akron swimming and diving team to a double-dual meet victory as it defeated Mount Union by a score of 185-103 and Xavier, 184-88, on Senior Night at Ocasek Natatorium.
"I'm happy the seniors were able to finish their careers with two victories. They were able to come out and compete well and have the team really get behind them," head coach Brian Peresie said. "We saw some great performances tonight."
The Zips started off strong to get out to a commanding lead early, sweeping the top three spots in six of the first seven events.
In the diving pool, junior Alice Hottensmith broke a Mid-American Conference one-meter dive record with a score of 356.85. The previous league record was 349.13 set by Danielle Hulvey of Eastern Michigan in 2013. Hottensmith's score also set an Ocasek Natatorium pool record, shattering the previous mark of 313.35 set in 2009.
Additionally, Hottensmith notched a three-meter dive victory with a program record score of 346.35.
In the first event of the night, the 200-yard medley relay team of Luka Szynal, Hannah Raspopovich, Erin Seiler and Laura Savariau swam its way into the top-10 times in program history, touching at 1:44.11 for first place, setting up the one-two-three sweep.
The 200 medley relay anchor, Savariau, joined Hottensmith in leading the way for the Zips as she posted two individual victories and an additional relay victory. Her first win came in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.29 and was followed by a first-place time of 2:04.06 in the 200-yard backstroke. The sophomore helped the Zips end strong as she, Seiler, Meghan Pearson and Susan Franz won the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:37.44.
Freshman Paloma Marrero Munoz also ended the night with two individual victories, touching first in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.75) and 200-yard breastroke (2:20.13). Both times land in the top-10 in program history, while the latter breaks into the top-five.
Senior Kelsey Ferrante posted a 100-yard freestyle victory while senior Pearson won the 100-yard butterfly on Senior Night.
The team will now look ahead to its next competition, the MAC Championships, set to begin on Feb. 25.
"I think we are starting to do the things we need to do to be successful four weeks from now in the MAC Championships. The team is getting more and more focused each day as we move closer and I think they're excited to see how well they're going to do. Their confidence is increasing and they're doing the things they need to do to have a successful season," Peresie added.
Akron looks to defend its MAC Championship title at the 2015 MAC Championships taking place at Eastern Michigan's Jones Natatorium from Feb. 25-28.
Players Mentioned
