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Regular Season Closes with Pair of Meets
January 26, 2017 04:22 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University swimming and diving team closes out regular-season competition, as the Mountaineers face Bucknell on Friday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. ET, before traveling to Villanova the following day for a 12:30 p.m. ET matchup.
Friday’s meet at Bucknell begins at 6 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the meet live at BucknellBison.com. On Saturday, West Virginia heads to Villanova to compete in its second meet of the weekend at Villanova. Diving events will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by swimming events at 1:40 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the Villanova meet live by downloading Meet Mobile ($). For additional updates, fans can also follow @WVUSwimDive.
“Both meets will present different challenges and opportunities for both teams,” said coach Vic Riggs. “We are doing the 13 event format with 200-stroke events against Bucknell, so I’ll be looking for the teams to continue to improve our race strategies but work our speed up front a bit. Against Villanova we are going the 13 event format with 100-stroke events. In this meet we’ll be looking to see where our speed is as we go into the final weeks of preparation for Big 12’s.
“We are doing all the relays, which will give us the opportunity to see what combinations are going to be the best and this is also the last chance for us to see the team race before we start to determine the scoring team for Big 12’s, so every race matters this weekend which should create some fast times.”
The WVU women (4-5, 1-1 Big 12) are coming off a close battle at Iowa State, falling 153-147, while the WVU men (3-4, 1-0 Big 12) were idle last weekend.
West Virginia’s women’s team notched eight victories, one in relay competition and seven in individual events against the Cyclones. The Mountaineers posted two 1-2-3 finishes in the 200 backstroke and the 100 butterfly. Freshman Morgan Bullock led WVU with three wins, one in a relay and two in individual events.
The Bucknell men hold an overall record of 4-5 and are 4-3 in the Patriot League following a 156-123 victory over Lehigh. The Bison women are 4-6, 3-4, after falling to Lehigh 137-166.5.
Last year, the WVU men led the entire way against Villanova, winning 200-77 against the Wildcats, while the WVU women fell at home, 175-122. The Wildcats’ women’s team (6-2) is coming off a 187-110 win against Richmond, and the men (4-3) are coming off of a win against Providence, 130-68.
Up next, the Mountaineers have three weeks off to prepare for the Big 12 Championship from Feb. 22-25 in Austin, Texas. The four day championship meet begins at 11 a.m. ET each day.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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