The University at Buffalo women's swimming and diving team fell short in both of its meets this weekend.
Miami of Ohio (1-0 overall, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) continued their 24 straight MAC dual meet victory streak by defeating UB 145-93 on Friday evening at the Corwin Nixon Aquatics Center.
The Bulls (2-2, 0-2 MAC) suffered another loss in the same weekend, this time to Ball State (3-0, 2-0 MAC) on Saturday by a score of 193-107.
UB dominated the diving events against the RedHawks, but was unable to continue throughout the rest of the meet, as the Bulls lost nine of 11 swimming events.
UB's Tracy Hoover took the top spot in the one-meter diving competition with 216.95 points. Second place went to UB's Kimberly LaHaye, with a score of 214.05 points. LaHaye also took first place in the three-meter dive. Miranda Matias' 205.70 points secured third place in the one-meter dive for the Bulls and second place in the three-meter diving competition.
The only other two victories for the Bulls came in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Julie Marcotte finished the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:26.03 and Jennefer Brankovsky, Meghan Lafferty, Andrea Scharf, and Bethany Miller claimed 200-yard freestyle relay victory in 1:40.78.
"We knew Miami was going to be a tough meet; they dominate the MAC in swimming and they have a great tradition. With us being on the road and them being at home, it gave them a huge advantage," said senior Janet Reynolds.
With only one day to reflect on the things they did wrong and how to improve on their shortcomings, it appeared as though the Bulls faced a challenge in terms of being ready to compete. However, Reynolds said the team recovered from the Miami loss very well.
"The best thing was that we just came out of a loss to Miami, but we were up and ready to compete (against Ball State)," Reynolds said.
Brankovsky led the Bulls against Ball State, taking two first place finishes and one second place finish. She finished the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.62 and the 200-yard individual medley in 2:10.69. Both finishes were good enough to lead the pack and leave her competitors in her wake. Erin Johnson of Ball State inched Brankovsky out in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.22. The 200-yard breaststroke went to UB's Amanda Marcus in a time of 2:27.61.
UB's Kahla Walkinshaw was the first finisher in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:56.51. Eugenie Viale finished at 17:59.85 for second place for the Bulls. Frances Stephenson picked up the victory in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:13.92. Walkinshaw finished in 5:16.69, which was good enough for second place in the event.
For Buffalo, the losses marked the first two conferences losses of the season for the Bulls. The team hopes to be able to bounce back from this slow start to this season. Last year, UB split its opening MAC meets against Ball State and Miami of Ohio. The Bulls beat Ball State by a 192-108 margin and lost to Miami of Ohio with a final score of 176-124. This year the Bulls were not as successful, and look to even up their conference record this coming weekend.
UB will have its first MAC home meet of the season on Friday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. against Marshall. They will then welcome the Bobcats of Ohio University on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.
