The ASU swimming and diving team will take on rival UA in the final dual meet of the 2009-2010 season at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Saturday.
ASU swimming coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said she is looking at this meet as a chance for ASU to step up its intensity and compete at a high level.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to evaluate where we are two weeks out of the conference [meet] for the women and three weeks out for the men,” Tierney-Walker said. “It’s exciting to have my first opportunity to compete against UA. [UA’s] men and women have a shot at winning a national title again this year. It’s good for us to compete against that level.”
The ASU women are 6-5 (2-4 Pac-10), while the ASU men are 2-6 (0-3 Pac-10).
The UA women’s team is currently ranked No. 2 in the country, while the men’s team is ranked No. 3. The Wildcat men are tough competition as they recently beat No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Stanford.
The Sun Devils have been preparing for the second half of their season by tapering their practices. The coaches have added more recovery time for the swimmers to make sure they’re rested before Pac-10s.
“It’s a different type of philosophy than they’ve been used to, but they’re responding to it well,” Tierney-Walker said. “We’ve seen quite a bit of progress.”
This weekend’s meet will be the last dual meet for five Sun Devils: Max Laney and Marin Naranca for the men and Sara McDaniel, Ashley Evans, Jamie Martinez and on the women’s side.
The swimming coaches expect to see the seniors work hard and shine in their final home meet.
“I really expect a lot from our seniors this weekend,” Tierney-Walker said.
McDaniel, a co-captain, will be graduating in May with degrees in English and Communications.
“I’m really excited and sad at the same time,” McDaniel said. “It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been swimming for so long, so it’s really sad to see all that coming to an end.”
McDaniel thinks it’s fitting that the last dual meet of her Sun Devil career is against the Wildcats.
“They have a really good team,” McDaniel said. “It’s cool going into your last meet knowing that you’re going to have somebody that is the best of the best to compete against, and measure yourself against. It’s a team that’s really good and a rival of ASU.”
Reach the reporter at nklauss@asu.edu
