Tar Heels Sweep Hokies at Home Opener

Saturday, November 4

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

North Carolina

Virginia Tech

Caroline Hauder finished first in the both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

November 4, 2017 | Swimming & Diving

Complete Results (pdf)Photo Gallery

By: Posted by UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina men's and women's swimming and diving teams dominated in their home opener of the 2017-18 season against the Virginia Tech Hokies Saturday at Koury Natatorium. The 19th-ranked Tar Heel women beat the 22nd-ranked Hokies with a score of 178.5 to 121.5. The men shocked the 19th-ranked Hokies with a score of 166 to 134, earning their first win of the season.

"The team stepped up to a great challenge against a great opponent, Virginia Tech," says head swimming coach Rich DeSelm said.

The Tar Heels set the tone by sweeping the Hokies in the first two events of the day, the men's and women's 200-yard medley relays. That was the first of many first places finishes for the Tar Heels today.

"I felt like we went into the meet well prepared in terms of our team understanding they each have responsibilities and they each could contribute to the final outcome," commented DeSelm. "The choice was theirs on whether they wanted to step up and make a difference and I saw a lot of that today, which is a really good sign."

Freshman Alvin Jiang and senior Caroline Baldwin both set 2017-18 top times in the ACC this season for the fastest clockings in the 100-yard backstroke. Jiang had a time of 46.83 and Baldwin came in at 52.44.

"Caroline in her 100-back, I know she is right up with the best in the country let alone the conference, and Alvin's 100-back was eye-opening and that was a real big drop [in time] for him," said Coach DeSelm.

In addition to Jiang's 100-yard backstroke victory, he sported a 100-yard butterfly victory in a time of 48.15. Valdas Abaliksta also had a strong performance today as he earned two individual wins in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 54.75 and 1:58.98, respectively.

The Tar Heel relay teams continued strong with both relays remaining undefeated for the season. In the 200-yard medley relay, Jiang, Abaliksta, Nick Loomis and J.T. Casey claimed first place with a time of 1:28.78. With a time of 3:00.37 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, Hans Schroeder, Abaliksta, Casey and Philip Perdue closed the meet with a win in the final event of the afternoon.

"Everyone has been putting in the work and I think this is very well deserved and it's definitely a great momentum boost for the future," claimed Jiang. "We were the underdogs coming in and we showed up. Hopefully this makes a statement on the national stage."

Dimitrios Dimitriou, Chris Thames and Henry Campbell had individual first place finishes today. Dimitriou claimed the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:38.61, Thames won 200-yard backstroke in 1:47.72 and Campbell followed in the 500-yard freestyle 4:29:25.

Caroline Hauder had a phenomenal day with three individual first place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley with times of 1:01.46, 2:15.27 and 1:59.51, respectively. She was a part of another first place finish in the 200-yard medley relay along with Baldwin, Maddie Smith and Brooke Bauer at a time of 1:40.17.

Baldwin, who is a senior co-captain shared, "We made a goal in the beginning, it doesn't matter what they have done in the past or what we've done, today is the only day that matters and we just have to get our hand on the wall and I think we did a really good job of that."

Baldwin finished with two individual first place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle. She also was a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay which consisted of Emma Cole, Smith and Bauer which finished with a time of 3:22.25.

Other Tar Heels that had individual first place finishes today were Robyn Dryer in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:55.86, Smith in the 50-yard freestyle finishing at 23:07 and Bryanna Cameron in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:51.91.

Diving coach Abel Sanchez was proud with the Tar Heels work on the boards today. "They are a tough team and they're really deep and I am happy where we are at. It is very pleasing."

Elissa Dawson and Maria Lohman finished first and second on the three-meter board today with scores of 358.65 and 354.60, respectively. Greg Duncan, who missed the last meet due to illness, earned two second-place finishes on the boards.

"The whole entire team had a great meet and it was super exciting to get in the atmosphere. Everyone else feeds off each other," claimed Dawson.

The Tar Heels will return to action Saturday, Nov. 11 at noon at Koury Natatorium to face the University of Texas Longhorns. Carolina will be battling two of the top teams in the nation next Saturday.

MEN'S TEAM SCORE: NORTH CAROLINA 166, #19 VIRGINIA TECH 134
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT--MEN
200-Yard Medley Relay: North Carolina (Alvin Jiang, Valdas Abaliksta, Nick Loomis, J. T. Casey), 1st place, 1:28.78
1000-Yard Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 3rd place, 9:25.20
200-Yard Freestyle: Dimitrios Dimitriou, 1st place, 1:38.61
100-Yard Backstroke: Alvin Jiang, 1st place, 46.83
100-Yard Breaststroke: Valdas Abaliksta, 1st place, 54.75
200-Yard Butterfly: Noah Cairns, 3rd place, 1:48.93
50-Yard Freestyle: Jack Messenger, 4th place, 20.69
One-Meter Diving: Greg Duncan, 2nd place, 347.55 points
100-Yard Freestyle: Hans Schroeder, 2nd place, 45.55
200-Yard Backstroke: Chris Thames, 1st place, 1:47.72
200-Yard Breaststroke: Valdas Abaliksta, 1st place, 1:58.98
500-Yard Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 1st place, 4:29.25
100-Yard Butterfly: Alvin Jiang, 1st place, 48.15
Three-Meter Diving: Greg Duncan, 2nd place, 368.70 points
200-Yard Individual Medley: Henry Campbell, 2nd place, 1:51.76
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: North Carolina (Hans Schroeder, Valdas Abaliksta, Philip Perdue, J.T. Casey), 1st place, 3:00.37
Records: North Carolina 1-2, Virginia Tech 4-1
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORE: #19 NORTH CAROLINA 178.5, #21 VIRGINIA TECH 121.5
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN
200-Yard Medley Relay: North Carolina (Caroline Baldwin, Caroline Hauder, Brooke Bauer, Maddie Smith), 1st place, 1:40.17
1000-Yard Freestyle: Robyn Dryer, 1st place, 9:55.86
200-Yard Freestyle: Emma Cole, 2nd place, 1:50.06
100-Yard Backstroke: Caroline Baldwin, 1st place, 52.44
100-Yard Breaststroke: Caroline Hauder, 1st place, 1:01.46
200-Yard Butterfly: Bryanna Cameron, 2nd place, 1:59.16
50-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Smith, 1st place, 23.07
Three-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson, 1st place, 358.65 points
100-Yard Freestyle: Caroline Baldwin, 1st place, 48.44
200-Yard Backstroke: Emily Slabe, 3rd place, 2:01.17
200-Yard Breaststroke: Caroline Hauder, 1st place, 2:15.27
500-Yard Freestyle: Bryanna Cameron, 1st place, 4:51.91
100-Yard Butterfly: Emma Cole, 3rd place, 55.90
One-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson, 2nd place, 286.28 points
200-Yard Individual Medley: Caroline Hauder, 1st place, 1:59.51
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: North Carolina (Caroline Baldwin, Maddie Smith, Emma Cole, Brooke Bauer), 1st place, 3:22.25
Records: North Carolina 2-1, Virginia Tech 5-1