Coming off of a hard fought win at Bowling Green on Friday, the women's swimming and diving team didn't have enough left in the tank to bring down Toledo Saturday afternoon.
Despite strong performances from sophomore Jessie Koltz and senior Rachel Sorg, Buffalo (9-3, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) couldn't to get over the hump, losing to Toledo (6-5, 5-2 MAC) at the UT Recreation Center, 189-103.
Head coach Andy Bashor attributed a lack of rest and focus to the loss.
"Toledo is one of the best teams in the conference," Bashor said. "Plus coming off of [a game against] Bowling Green [on Friday], it's tough. It's tough on their bodies and tough on them mentally. We did some good things but in the end we just weren't that sharp today."
Although Buffalo lost the event, there were some bright spots along the way. Koltz highlighted the team's afternoon, placing first in the 50-freestyle by posting a time of 24.23. She also placed second in the 100-butterfly with a time of 58.57. Sorg also provided a jolt for the team, placing second in the 100-backstroke with a time of 59.36 and also placing second in the 200-backstroke, touching the wall at 2:09.05.
Bashor was impressed with both swimmers' performances. He was also impressed with junior Jessica Ballard, who came in second in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:30.64. Ballard also finished third in the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:55.35.
"Jessie Koltz winning the 50-freestyle with a 24.23, Jessica Ballard in the 400 IM with a 430.6-that's a good swim. Rachel Sorg had a good day," he said.
Even though the only first place finish was by Koltz, Bashor felt that Buffalo's swimmers remained highly competitive all day. Buffalo swam hard in both the 200-freestyle relay and the 200-medley relay, but let up at the end and took third place in both events.
The 200-freestyle team consisting of Koltz, Sorg, sophomore Jordan Deren and junior Sam Palma which finished with a time of 1:39.82. The team of Ballard, Koltzk, freshman Brynn Marecki and junior Sam Eckert posted a time of 1:46.72 in the medley.
The team was swept in the diving events, losing in both the one and three-meter board competitions. Junior Meili Carpenter placed second to Toledo's Brittany Teneyck in both events, losing by only 10ths of a point in both the one-meter event with 274.35 points and the 3-meter event with a score of 261.08. Buffalo also took third and fourth in both of the matchups.
"The divers had an off day today -- pretty much everyone had an off day today," Bashor said. "We had a very good, hard win last night so it kind of took a little bit out of us."
Although the season ended with a loss, the women still posted their best MAC record since joining the conference in 1998. This along with the team's great work ethic makes Bashor very confident going into the MAC Championships later this month.
"I'm confident that we're going to swim well at the MAC Championships," Bashor said. "These ladies have put in a ton of work, so we just need to rest up and get our speed from that and I think we're going to swim and dive very well."
The women's team will rest until 2009 MAC Championships in Bowling Green, Ohio. The event will take place from Feb. 25-28.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
