The meet was supposed to be even. Tied at No. 15 in the rankings, the North Carolina women were supposed to pose the greatest test to the Cavaliers' thus-undefeated season. Saturday's meet, however, was anything but equal. Behind their most complete team performance of the season, the Cavalier women dispatched the Tar Heels by the score of 179-119.
On the men's side, No. 10 Virginia also remained undefeated, as the Cavaliers proved too much for North Carolina, trouncing the No. 19 Tar Heels by over 100 points, 172-71.
The Cavalier women were led by a pair of veterans as well as a budding superstar. Juniors Rachael Burke, Katie Gordon and freshman Jess Lewis all won multiple individual events as Virginia captured first place in 11 of 16 events.
"They are our biggest rival and we lost this meet my first two years at Virginia," Burke said. "But today, we just dominated them."
After North Carolina swept the top three spots in one-meter diving, the Tar Heels pulled to within 20 points and Virginia's lead appeared, at least for a moment, to be in jeopardy. But with the presence of an experienced veteran, Lewis stepped to the block in the 100-freestyle and cruised to a NCAA-B winning time of 50.62 seconds, over a second faster than the next finisher, teammate and sophomore Katy Bland. Virginia proceeded to rattle off victories in the next three events while coasting to yet another dual meet victory.
"It's hard to pick out an individual on either side today because they were team wins," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "I think everyone understood that they were being held responsible for a certain number of points in each event. And for the most part straight across the board, they lived up to their responsibilities."
For the men, Virginia senior Luke Anderson and junior Fran Crippen each took home two individual wins. Anderson, who competed in last summer's Olympic Trials, won the 100 freestyle as well as the 50 freestyle in which he clocked the ACC's fastest time of the season.
"I was pretty happy," Anderson said. "That's the best un-rested time for my whole career today in the 50 and the 100. To put up those times with just minimal rest is pretty satisfying."
In addition to Anderson's two victories, Crippen took home first in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Couple those wins with sophomore Stefan Hirniak's victory in the 200 freestyle and Virginia recorded a sweep of all five freestyle events. In fact, the Cavalier men won 12 of a possible 13 events, dropping only the three-meter diving competition.
"I think [the men] swam today -- for the first time all season -- as a united team with a lot of intensity," Bernardino said.
Virginia's increased intensity could not have appeared at a better time as both teams travel to Gainesville, Fla. Friday night to face the No. 2 Florida men and the No. 3 Florida women. For the Cavaliers, this meet should present an opportunity to prove that in addition to dominating the ACC's best, they are capable of competing with the nation's elite.
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