Oct. 22, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's and women's swimming & diving teams will open up the home portion of their 2010-11 schedule when the Nittany Lions host Virginia Tech at the McCoy Natatorium on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Penn State enters the competition after splitting a meet against West Virginia last week. The women toppled the Mountaineers, 174-67, while a shorthanded men's team succumbed to WVU by a slim 125-116 margin.
On the women's side, Amy Modglin captured all three events in which she entered after claiming victories in the 400-IM, 200-backstroke, and 200-medley relay. All three of her partners on the relay squad won individual events as well with Merritt Krawczyk taking the 200-breaststroke, Alex Young capturing the 100-freestyle, and Hailey Campbell cruising to a title in the 200-fly.
For the men, Brian Alden posted a pair of victories last week against the Mountaineers. During the meet, he cruised to a victory in the 100- and 200-freestyles. In addition to his efforts, Luke Bushman, Jack Zierenberg, and Scott Marino won events as well.
Virginia Tech enters Saturday's action after sweeping its first meet of the season last week. The men posted a 168-110 victory over Charleston, while the women topped the Cougars, 173-106, and Radford, 175-110. While christening their brand new Christianburg Aquatic Center, the Hokies won 31 of 32 events during the competition.
On the women's side, junior Erika Hajnal led the way with three titles in the 200-backstroke, 200-butterfly, and 200-IM. For the men, Karl Botha also won three events after posting top times in the 50-free and both the 200-medley and 200-freestyle relays.
Penn State and Virginia Tech have battled twice before with the Hokie men holding a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series while the women are even at 1-1. Last year, the two programs squared off at the War Memorial Pool with the Nittany Lions suffering a pair of setbacks. The women dropped a close 160-140 decision, while the men were outpaced by a 184-116 margin.
During last year's meet, Modglin and Alden were the top performers for the Nittany Lions. Modglin led Penn State with three victories after taking the top spot in the 200-IM as well as both backstroke disciplines. On the men's side, Alden sped to a first-place finish in the 100-freestyle and 400-freestyle relay after placing second in the 100-free.
The only other meeting between Penn State and Virginia Tech occurred in 2006 as the two programs split the competition. The Nittany Lion women triumphed by a convincing 243-110 margin, while the men fell, 189.5-163.5.
Following Saturday's action, the Penn State swimming and diving teams will take some time off before heading to Charlottesville, Va. for a two-day tri-meet against Virginia and Indiana on November 19-20.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
200-Medley Relay
1000-Freestyle
200-Freestyle
100-Backstroke
100-Breaststroke
200-Butterfly
50-Freestyle
1-Meter Diving
100-Freestyle
200-Backstroke
200-Breaststroke
500-Freestyle
100-Butterfly
3-Meter Diving
200-IM
400-Freestyle Relay