By setting the tone early during meets, the men's and women's swimming and diving teams improved their records this past weekend. Each team defeated their Niagara counterparts Friday night and the women's team added another victory against Akron on Saturday.
???Buffalo defeated the Purple Eagles with a score of 125-105 as the women overwhelmed them with a 143-83 victory.
???The men's squad (3-3, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) started the night off well as junior Connor Vander Zalm picked up an early victory in the 1650-meter freestyle with a time of 16:31.12.
???Collectively, the swimmers built up a 67-25 lead going into the diving events. When swimming resumed, junior Scott Woster earned an individual win in the 100-butterfly with a season best time of 51.65. Woster and Zalm's performances helped to seal the team's triumph.
???Following the men's team, the women (6-2, 3-2 MAC) cruised to a fairly easy victory. The meet started well as the Bulls earned the top three spots in the 200-medley relay. The initial win set the expectations high for the night, and the women did not disappoint.
???Junior Meili Carpenter was an ace in the diving events, scoring 321.22 on the 1-meter board and 327.75 in the 3-meter event. Freshman Alison Schirmers took first in the 1,000-freestyle with a time of 10:35.86. Her mark was over a minute better than the rest of the field.
???The team was simply too much for Niagara as they won by a landslide of 60 points. The distinct victory paved the way for Saturday's competition.
???Despite a lack of rest, the women showed no signs of fatigue as they won the first race of the day and never looked back, zipping by MAC-rival Akron, 163-137.
???The women's squad defeated the Zips (4-5, 1-4 MAC) due to excellent swimming, led by junior Jessica Ballard's three victories. Head coach Andy Bashor attributed the team's winning performance to its diligent work ethic.
???"The team is focused on succeeding," Bashor said. "We're putting in tough practices and the team has been willing to make necessary sacrifices."
???Buffalo is growing accustomed to having success against Akron. Last season the Bulls raced against the Zips three times and topped them in each meet.
???Ballard took first place in three events on the day. She began with a win in the 100-backstroke in 58.58 and followed up with victories in the 200-backstroke in 2:06.53 and in the 200-IM in 2:08.51.
???"[Ballard is] really coming into her own this season," Bashor said. "It's great to see her confidence showing when she races."
???According to Bashor, the players have been working hard together and are keeping their minds on winning. He knows that hard work leads to wins, but he realizes that a team's mentality dictates how well it performs.
???"Recently our team has been very focused on success," he said. "I'm pleased with the way we competed this weekend and we're going to continue to get better each week."
???The men's team only has one meet remaining before they compete at the MAC/Sun Belt championships on Feb. 18-21.
???As the season progresses, the women will continue to work towards the MAC Championships starting Feb. 25. They'll be tested with two more in-conference meets as they are scheduled to visit Bowling Green and Toledo.
???The Bulls will host St. Bonaventure on Saturday in their final home meet of the season. Races will begin 6 p.m. at Alumni Arena Natatorium.
