BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University swimming and diving teams return to the pool after a week off when they takes on regional foe Xavier on Saturday at 3 p.m. at O'Connor Sports Center in Cincinnati.
"We are just excited to get up and race after a weekend off," WKU coach Bruce Marchionda said. "We are actually in one of our hardest training phases right now, so it will be a big test for us to be able to get up and swim against some good competition like Xavier.
"We talked a lot over the last week and a half about paying attention to details, so we are trying to clean up the little things within their races, whether it's a strategy or technique, so we are trying to clean those little things up and ask that they pay attention to details."
Last time out, the WKU swimming and diving teams swept the competition in a three-team meet with Georgia Tech and Sun Belt Conference opponent Florida Atlantic at Georgia Tech Aquatic Complex in Atlanta. The Lady Toppers claimed a 152.5-147.5 victory over Georgia Tech and a 210-85 win against Florida Atlantic. On the men's side, the Hilltoppers edged Georgia Tech 151-149 and defeated Florida Atlantic 185-113.
Hilltopper Nick Slattery earned Sun Belt Conference Swimmer of the Week honors following his performance at the meet. The senior clocked in at 49.74 to place first in the 100 fly while finishing just three-hundredths of a second out of first place in the 200 fly with a time of 1:52.11.
The Xavier women opened the season with a 122-77 win over Marshall at home but have lost two straight meets against Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio) University. The Bearcats claimed a 182-87 victory over Xavier while Miami edged the Musketeers 193-67. The women's team was picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
On the men's side, the Musketeers are 1-1 thus far in the season. Xavier opened the season with an upset of Cincinnati, 137.5-127.5, before losing to Miami (Ohio) University 143, 114. The men were picked to finish tied for fourth in the league.
Last season against Xavier, the Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers swept the dual meet. The men edged the Musketeers 166-110, while the women earned a 165-140 victory.
"Obviously that gives us a little bit of confidence there as far as we were able to beat them last year," Marchionda said. "So we are hoping that confidence kind of rolls over and we go up there and take care of business at their pool as last year was obviously down here."
WKU leads the all-time series between the two teams on both the men's and women's side. The Hilltoppers are 12-0 against Xavier, while the Lady Toppers are 7-0 all-time against the Musketeers.
For complete results and a recap of Saturday's meet, please visit WKUSports.com.
Meet Notes
