After No. 15 UCLA (4-1, 2-1 Pac-10) handed the No. 16 Arizona State Sun Devils (0-3, 0-1) a 195-105 loss on Friday, the Bruins suffered their first loss of the season to the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats (2-1, 1-1), 157-121 on Saturday.
Diving coach Tom Stebbins did not see the loss as a severe setback.
In fact, he was quite pleased by the effort displayed in the pool both Friday and Saturday.
“We were very, very good yesterday. In fact, we were outstanding yesterday,” Stebbins said.
The divers scored quickly against Arizona State, as the Bruins swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
Senior Marisa Samaniego won the one-meter with a season-best mark of 276.75 and a score of 299.18 in the three-meter.
Freshman Alyssa Robinson (273.07, 252.15) and senior Brittany Hill (263.32, 247.05) rounded out the scoring for the Bruins in the 3-meter and 1-meter events.
“I’m really pleased with how disciplined we were. We had a very difficult week of training where we worked really hard,” Stebbins said.
Last Tuesday, swim coach Cyndi Gallagher said that the relay team had to deliver against the Sun Devils.
The team, composed of senior Madeleine Stanton, sophomore Brittany Beauchan, and freshmen Yashi Jahanshahi and Madison Fitzgerald, finished in 1:44.59, defeating the Sun Devils by two-hundredths of a second in the opening 200 medley relay.
The Bruins went on to win 12 of the next 15 events, while sweeping the 400 IM and the 500 and 1000 freestyles.
Seniors Madeleine Stanton and Anna Poteete both tallied two wins a piece.
Poteete posted wins in the 50 (23.42) and 100 (50.45) freestyles, while Stanton took the 100 (56.24) and the 200 (2:01.46) backstrokes.
Sophomore Brittany Beauchan was victorious in the 100 breast (1:04.50) and freshman Yasi Jahanshahi posted a victory in the 200 butterfly in 2:01.06.
The Bruins are now 18-8-1 all-time against the Sun Devils.
Though the team did not post a victory Saturday against Arizona, they did record 20 season-best times.
Samaniego took the one-meter diving event with a mark of 260.42, with Hill following in third place, scoring a 232.70.
Senior Anna Poteete finished first in the 100 free in 50.65, while narrowly losing by two hundredths of a second in the 50 freestyle.
Sophomore Brittany Beauchan won the 200 breaststroke (2:17.96), while sophomore Lauren Hall, who easily took the 500 freestyle in 4:55.08, finished second.
“I think by the time we got to the later parts of today, we were physically struggling a bit,” Stebbins said.
“I am still pleased with how they managed themselves and how they reacted for the most part to the stress and being in a pretty tough meet.”
Regardless of the fatigue, there will be no time off for the Bruins.
“On Monday, we’re going to get back to work,” Stebbins said. “We’re going to grind it out this week. Work-wise we’re going to be pretty high volume base for us.”
The next meet for the divers will be at Texas A&M this Thursday, which features outstanding divers across the nation.
“They’re going to be great teams and great divers out there,” Stebbins said.
“We’re going to get a very clear picture of where we’re at going into the Texas meet in a couple of weeks.
The team won’t have a home meet until late January next year against Washington.
“Our base and our foundation are very good,” Stebbins said.
“At the end of the year, at the finals, I think our level of success will be much greater and we’re going to be very tough.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
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