AU ROUNDUP: Swimming & diving sweeps Bama

The Auburn swimming and diving team combined for 16 event wins and 12 NCAA Provision “B” cut times Thursday as the Tigers swept in-state rival Alabama in front of 1,156 fans at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.

The women topped the Crimson Tide, 134-107, while the men defeated Alabama, 142-101.

“We started very strong and it was a great team effort overall,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “The relays set the tone for us and were our cornerstone today. It was a strong meet and I feel that everyone really raced well.”

Freshman Katie Gardocki led the women individually, picking up a pair of wins for the second-consecutive meet. The Suffield, Conn., native recorded her first-career B cut time, taking first in the 1650 free in 16:34.88. Gardocki also took first in the 500 free in 4:53.40.

Sophomore Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace returned to the pool and also came away with double wins. She captured first in the 50 free in 23.17 and recorded a B time of 50.18 took take first in the 100 free.

“Katie had another great meet,” Hawke said. “She put up some good times and it is exciting to see her do so well. I’m also happy to see Arianna back in the pool and getting a pair of wins.”

Also picking up individual victories were senior Melissa Marik, junior Caitlin Geary and sophomore Stephanie Horner. Geary finished first in the 200 free (1:48.96), while Horner touched the wall first in the 200 fly (2:01.45). Marik picked up a B time of 1:58.02 to win the 200 back and was followed closely by junior Erica Meissner, who finished second in the event with a B time of 1:58.23.

The 400 medley relay squad of Marik, Micah Lawrence, Ava Ohlgren and Vanderpool-Wallace opened the meet with a first-place finish in a B time of 3:40.85. The quartet of Geary, Horner, Maggie Bird and Ohlgren finished the meet with a win in the 800 free relay (7:29.56).

Sophomore Vennie Dantin led the way for the Tiger divers. She picked up a NCAA Zone score of 278.77 with a second-place finish on the 1-meter and took fourth on the 3-meter with a Zone score of 288.90.

Leading the way for the men was senior Gideon Louw, who picked up a pair of wins and B times in the 50 free (19.87) and 100 free (44.20).

Classmate Tyler McGill tallied a B time of 1:47.56 to take first in the 200 fly, while junior Adam Klein touched the wall first in the 200 breast with a time of 2:00.21.

Freshman Kyle Owens celebrated his 19th birthday with a big win in the 200 individual medley. The Johnson City, Tenn., native came in first with a B time of 1:49.31. Junior Andrew Mitchell came in a close second, finishing in 1:49.86.

“Kyle had a great swim and a great result,” Hawke said. “His time is one of the top times in the country and that is very exciting for both him and the team.”

The quad of Jared White, Michael Silva, McGill and Christopher Fox tallied a B time of 3:14.67 and win in the 400 medley relay to open the meet. Fox, Louw, McGill and Kohlton Norys finished the night with a B time of 6:41.58 in the 800 free relay.

On the diving side, freshman Thad Ellis finished second on the 1-meter springboard with a NCAA Zone standard score of 338.32, while senior Kelly Marx finished third in a Zone score of 332.69. Marx led the Tigers on the 3-meter with a second-place finish with a Zone score of 404.77.

Auburn returns to the James E. Martin Aquatic Center for a SEC match-up with perennial national contender Georgia on Nov. 20. The meet is set to start a 4 p.m. and admission is free.

Soccer opens NCAAs vs. Cal tonight
The Auburn soccer team begins play in the 2009 Women’s College Cup tonight at 6 p.m. in Tallahassee, Fla., when it plays California in a rematch of a 2006 meeting between the two teams on the same field.

Auburn (10-8-3), which was selected as an at-large berth for the eighth-time in school history, will try to get past California (10-8-1) and into the second round for the fifth time in program history while California is making a 17th appearance in the tournament.

“It is neat to play Cal again. Our seniors, when they were freshmen, that was their first NCAA Tournament game and now they get another crack at them,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said.

Auburn is led offensively by first team All-SEC selection sophomore midfielder Katy Frierson (five goals, 10 assists, 20 points) and second team All-SEC senior forward Rebecca Howell (eight goals, one assist, 17 points) while Second Team All-SEC junior defender Sammy Towne and SEC All-Freshman goalkeeper Amy Howard (115 saves, 1.16 goals against average) anchor the defense.

Cal’s Alex Morgan (13) and Lisa Kevorkian (seven) have combined to score 20 of the team’s 32 goals on the year while senior goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini has made 36 stops to go along with a 1.58 goals against average as Cal as a team has surrendered just 76 shots on goal compared to Auburn’s 145 opponent shots on goal.

“Our defending has to be better than it was on Friday (in the loss to LSU at the SEC Tournament). Our individual defending is going to be very important. Cal is dangerous up top. They are a very dynamic attacking personality. The other key for us is keeping the ball in our attacking half and not allowing those personalities to get the ball as much as they would like to,” Hoppa said.

Auburn won five of its last seven matches, falling to LSU in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, to improve from 5-6-3 to 10-8-3, outscoring opponents 13-5 over the seven-match stretch and 12-2 in the five wins.

“What we have done in the last three weeks is very special, going from below .500 and not even in the SEC Tournament to putting ourselves in a position to get into the NCAA Tournament,” Hoppa said. “The exciting thing is we are peaking at the right time. We’re playing very well, even the LSU game that we lost, we played great. It was a very even game and it could have gone either way. For us to turn it on, with our backs against the wall, shows the character of this team.”

On the other side of Auburn’s bracket is one of the national No. 1 seeds in Florida State (16-4-1), an at-large selection from the ACC, and Southeastern Louisiana (13-4-2), which won the automatic bid out of the Southland Conference. They will play at 3:30 p.m. today and the winners of the two matches will play at noon Sunday.

Auburn is 4-7-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, going 4-3-0 in first round matches. Auburn is playing in Tallahassee for the fourth time in postseason play, going 2-3-0 in its three previous tries.

No. 1 equestrian heads to No. 2 UGA
The No. 1 ranked Auburn equestrian team will face No. 2 and conference rival Georgia today at 2 p.m. Central in Bishop, Ga.

“Our girls are so pumped about heading to Bishop, Ga., Friday,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “They are riding extremely well, working hard and yet having a lot of fun. Playing with passion as a team is what it’s all about, and they will be quite a force on Friday.”

Auburn is 6-1 on the season with their last win coming on the road against Delaware State on Nov. 8, while Georgia is 5-1 on the season with their last win coming against Fresno State on Nov. 6. The Tigers have wins over eighth-ranked Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, Tennessee-Martin, third-ranked Texas A&M, Sacred Heart and Delaware State.

Riding for the Tigers in Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat are Chelsea Anheuser, Anna Becker, Katie Breedlove, Maggie McAlary and Lindsay Portela with Elise Fraza on exhibition and Anna Schierholz as the alternate. Riding in Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences are Anna Becker,
Dottie Grubb, Maggie McAlary, Anna Schierholz and Grace Socha with Lindsay Portela on exhibition and Chelsea Anheuser as the alternate.

Riding for the Tigers in Western Horsemanship are Bailey Dymond, Kristin Hansen, Jessica Jones, Kylie Miller and Indy Roper with Casey Fowler on exhibition and Amy Bohan as the alternate. Riding in Western Reining are Jillian Fuller, Jessica Jones, Lyndsey Jordan, Paige Monfore and Kim Pope with Kristin Hansen on exhibition and Shannon Hinton as the alternate.

Volleyball hosts UT, UK on weekend
The Auburn Tigers look to rebound from a rough weekend and take on a pair of tough SEC opponents in Tennessee and No. 11 Kentucky this weekend at the Student Activities Center.

The Tigers face the Lady Volunteers today at 4 p.m. and then take on the Wildcats at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“We played a tough match at Tennessee earlier this season and it was really unfortunate that we let it get away from us,” head coach Wade Benson said. “They are a tough team but beatable and we’re looking forward to playing them at home.”

“Kentucky is one of the best teams in the country right now and they lead the SEC,” Benson said. “I’m anxious to see how much our team has grown and how they match up.”

The Tigers dropped a pair of SEC road matches last weekend to fall to 14-12 overall and 6-9 in the SEC.

The Lady Vols come to Auburn with an overall record of 19-6 and a 12-3 record in the SEC.

The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 24-2 overall record and are 14-1 in conference play.

Auburn traveled to Kentucky on Oct. 9 and fell to the nationally ranked Wildcats, 3-0. The Tigers dropped a 3-0 decision to Tennessee on Oct. 11 in Knoxville.

Following this weekend, the Tigers head out on their last roadtrip of the regular season, traveling to Arkansas on Nov. 20 for a 7 p.m. match. Auburn then faces Ole Miss on Nov. 22 at 1:30 p.m. in Oxford, Miss.

Frierson earns honor
Katy Frierson was named an honorable mention to the TopDrawerSoccer.com 2009 Women’s College Soccer Team of the Season, the Web site announced on Thursday.

A sophomore midfielder, Frierson leads Auburn with 20points, collecting five goals and a team-high 10 assists. An All-SEC First Team selection, she helped lead Auburn to a ninth straight SEC Tournament berth and a fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Auburn has gone 5-0-0 in games in which she has scored and 5-1-1 in matches in which she has an assist.