The LSU swimming and diving teams lost their dual-meet against Tennessee on Saturday in the LSU Natatorium.
After a slow start, LSU began to perform better as the meet continued, but neither the men nor women could come away with a team victory. The Lady Volunteers narrowly defeated the Lady Tigers, 159-135. On the men’s side, the No. 15 Volunteers came out on top by a score of 184.5-106.5.
Though LSU has one more home meet remaining this season, Saturday’s competition served as Senior Day for the teams’ 11 seniors. Sophomore Kara Kopsco said senior leadership has been critical for LSU this season.
“Our leadership on this team, especially this year.. has been phenomenal,” Kopcso said. “I have never been a part of such leadership like Frank [Greeff] and Amber [Carter] have to get us through everything.”
The Lady Volunteers (4-2-1, 1-0-1 Southeastern Conference) came out strong early in the meet to defeat the Lady Tigers (4-2, 1-2 SEC). In the first event, the Medley Relay team of Madison Hahn, Molly Hannis, Harper Bruens, and Cherelle Thompson carried Tennessee to a first-place finish with a time of 1:39.98.
Shortly afterward, the Tigers (2-3, 0-3 SEC) also fell behind to start off the meet. Tennessee captured both the first and second place finishes for the opening men’s Medley Relay with times of 1:27:71 and 1:30:30.
The LSU men’s team of sophomores Brandon Goldman and Silas Dejean, senior Marco Gonzalez and senior captain Frank Greeff touched the wall right behind the second-place Tennessee team, completing the race in 1:30.59.
Individual first-place finishes from Kopcso, along with juniors Megan Cox and Caley Oquist, played a big role for the Lady Tigers.
Kopcso swept all the individual butterfly races with a time of 1:58.97 in the 200-fly, and she touched the wall in 54.11 in the 100-fly. She was also first to finish in the Individual Medley, completing the race in 4:17.87.
Cox finished first in the 200 freestyle and was joined by Oquist, who won the 100 backstroke shortly afterward.
LSU will try to rebound in two weeks when the men’s and women’s teams travel to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M.
“We will definitely be in a better spot physically for us and what we need to do at the end of this season for the conference championship,” said LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer. “It’s all about progression toward the end of the season.”