The NC State swimming and diving team will be looking for its third straight ACC victory when it travels to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on the Cavaliers on Friday, Jan. 24.
The No. 6 NC State men’s team (5-1, 2-0 ACC) and No. 6 women’s team (6-1, 2-0 ACC) are both coming off of dominant victories over UNC and Duke on back-to-back days. The No. 15 UVA men’s team (2-2, 0-1 ACC) lost its first ACC meet of the season to Virginia Tech by a close margin of 141-158. The No. 3 UVA women’s team (3-1, 1-0 ACC) on the other hand defeated Virginia Tech by a comfortable score of 188-111.
It will be very difficult for the UVA men’s team to gain points over NC State standout sophomore Nyls Korstanje and senior captain Coleman Stewart. Korstanje has the sixth-best 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle times in the nation and the thirteenth best 100 butterfly time in the nation. Stewart has the second-best time in 100 backstroke with 44.82 while also having the eighth-best 50 backstroke time. The men’s relay teams have been outstanding as well with them having top ten times in every relay besides the 200 medley relay where they rank eleventh in the nation. The UVA men’s team has a very tough challenge coming to them with their times not matching up as well.
The very strong UVA women’s swim team is the highest-ranked women’s team in the ACC at No. 3. UVA has a clear advantage over NC State in freestyle with Paige Madden who has the top time for 500 meters and the fifth-best time for 200 meters in the nation. Morgan Hill and Kate Douglass also top NC State standout senior Ky-lee Perry’s times in both 50 and 100 free.
However, the Wolfpack have a huge advantage in 200 backstroke with three swimmers: sophomore Emma Muzzy, freshman Katharine Berkoff, and junior Kate Moore in the top ten times, while UVA only has one in Paige Madden. Berkoff also leads both teams in 100 backstroke. UVA has a clear advantage in the fly events while they may have difficulty beating the impressive NC State breaststroke swimmer sophomore Sophie Hansson. The relays will be very even between both teams.
Senior women’s diver Maddie Kline and senior men’s diver James Brady have another chance to have another impressive ACC performance. In their last meet against Duke, Kline took first place in the 3-meter dive while Brady took top times in one-meter and three-meter boards as well. These senior divers have been excellent all year and are not going to slow down against UVA.
The meet will take place Friday, Jan. 24 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Diving will start at 1 p.m. while swimming will start at 4 p.m.
