N.C. State faced its first ACC opponent of the season Friday as both men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams took on Duke at the Willis R. Casey Aquatics Center in Carmichael Gym. The men’s team beat the Blue Devils 217-82, placing it at 3-0 for the season with a 1-0 ACC record.

The women’s team lost 156 – 141 to Duke but conquered non-conference opponent Campbell 239-46.

Freshman Jennifer Kopenitz’s time of 2:01.78 in the 200-back came just short of the school record of 2:01.10, set in 1993.

“That was a very impressive swim,” coach Brooks Teal said. “She swam it better than she did last week, and she’s an elite performer who’s going to make it far in the ACC. I have every confidence that the record will fall over the next four years.”

Kopenitz’ time took first in the heat, with sophomore Anna Linkenauger coming second with 2:06.17.

“It made me more pumped up for the next race, because I know that I’m close to it, and I’m going to try and go after it,” Kopenitz said. “But I was happy with a personal-best time.”

The women’s team, now 2-2 overall and 0-1 ACC, raced hard but just couldn’t pull through in the end, according to Kopenitz.

“A key point is our relay exchanges,” Kopenitz said. “They’re a little weak. But I know we’ll just keep on practicing, and we have a good amount of time right now to work on that.”

The Wolfpack won the 200-medley relay with a time 1:46.92, featuring Erica Smith, Patrice Dason, Ashley Richter and Jessica Ward. Dason, Richter, Lucy Lindsey and Amanda Panty came in second in the 200-free relay, with 1:37.20.

Other Pack victories included Richter in the 50-free and the 100-free, with times of 24.51 and 52.98, respectively. Lindsey won the 200-free, coming in at 1:54.57. Ward took first in the 200-breast at 2:20.18.

Kopenitz also won the 400-IM with 4:23.88, a time that places her at sixth best in school history.

“The ladies, I just wanted them to race harder than they did last week, and they did,” Teal said. “We had some big, big wins on the ladies’ side. Ashley Richter and Jen Kopenitz, freshmen, really stepped up, so we had some big wins. Our depth has got to get a little better.”

The women’s team won against William and Mary but fell to East Carolina last weekend.

Teal said he challenged the men to step up their intensity, and they did.

The victories were many for the men’s team as junior Andrew Lester took commanding wins in the 1650-free (15:46.90) and 500-free (4:34.95). Sophomore Mason McGee also added two wins, with a time of 1:41.38 in the 200-free and a time of 47.38 in the 100-free.

Freshman Dan Forsythe’s two wins were in the 100 and 200 breast, at 58.05 and 2:07.40, respectively. Fellow freshman Mike Seiferth also collected two wins in 100 and 200 butterfly, with 51.14 and 1:53.17, respectively.

Stephen Mellor led, however, with three wins. The junior came in at 1:46.76 in the 200-back and 50.24 in the 100-back. In the 400-IM, Mellor timed 4:01.25.

“I had a really good night,” Mellor said. “I’m right on the sort of times I want to be at this time in the season, maybe even faster, so it’s really exciting. All of us just need to keep doing our things. The faster we go in these coming meets, the faster we’re going to go in the ACCs.”

Though the men’s team beat both William and Mary and ECU, Mellor said the team is still looking to improve.

“As a team, we’ve stepped up since last weekend against ECU,” Mellor said. “Individual performances were much better. Relay performances were much better. The whole team performance was on a whole other level from last weekend, which is really good to see.”

Mellor contributed to the 200-medley relay win, along with Forsythe, sophomore Taylor Goodwin and senior Dan Glauber for a final time of 1:33.47. The combined efforts of Glauber, McGee, senior Brian Crowder and sophomore Travis Martinez won the 200-free relay at 1:25.33.

Junior Austin Hampton won in men’s diving, with a 1-meter at 323.03.

According to Mellor, beginning ACC conference play is incentive for both teams to step up their games.

“There’s a lot more at stake when we go against an ACC team,” Mellor said. “Our conference record is at stake. Personally, and as a team, I expect huge improvements. These performances have given us all a lot of encouragement for this time in the season. We need to get the momentum we’re producing right now and take it into our conference meets and obviously ACCs.”