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CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech women’s swimming and diving team hosted the University of Richmond this afternoon in the final dual meet at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center in its inaugural season. The H₂Okies earned 12 first-place finishes in 16 events, breaking eight pool records and earning five event sweeps, to swim to a 173-121 victory. The win lifts Tech to 4-1, while the Spiders fall to 7-3.

“It was a real strong team effort today by our ladies,” said Head Coach Ned Skinner. “They came together as a team and raced real hard with great energy, and our seniors led the way with really strong performances.”

Erika Hajnal, Keri Sink and Heather Savage all took home three titles in the meet. Hajnal, the only swimmer to earn three individual first-place finishes, led sweeps and broke pool records in the 500 free, the 1000 free and the 200 butterfly. Sink set new pool records with all three of her top finishes, winning the 100 breaststroke, the 200 IM and the 200 medley relay, along with Savage, Steffi Drechsel and Kaleigh Gomes. Savage earned an individual title in the 100 fly, as well as teaming up with Drechsel, Gomes and Lauren Ritter in the 400 free relay.

“We are really excited about the performances from Keri Sink,” Skinner said. “She posted times and finishes that were really, really strong, as were the performances of Erika Hajnal. Those two ladies continue to accelerate towards ACCs and NCAAs and we are really excited for them.”

Addie Carne and Aubree Duncan earned the final two individual swimming titles for the H₂Okies, as Duncan won the 200 back and Carne broke the pool record in the 200 free.

Sara Mokhtari and Carissa Santora each led a sweep of the springboard diving events, winning the 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively, and each posting Zone A qualifying scores.

“I was very pleased with the consistency of all the girls’ diving today,” said Head Diving Coach Ron Piemonte, “and I was very happy to see Carissa Santora really coming through the best 3-meter event that she’s had in her career. It was also exciting to see Sara Mokhtari come up with a great 1-meter event for her. All-in-all, I thought the girls were very solid and very steady, and that’s a great place for them to be right now.”

The H₂Okies embark on a tough road trip next weekend, as they travel to No. 19/17 Louisville for a tri-meet with No. 12/14 Indiana on Friday evening beginning at 5 p.m. They will then take on Cincinnati and Kentucky the following morning at 11 a.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).