Wolfpack to Open Home Slate with Matchup Against Tar Heels

Saturday, January 19

Raleigh, N.C.

Diving 10 AM, Swimming 11 AM

NC State

UNC-Chapel Hill

Wolfpack to Open Home Slate with Matchup Against Tar Heels

1/17/2019 11:11:00 AM | Swimming

Watch Live (ACC Network Extra)

NC State to honor its senior class as it celebrates Senior Day on Saturday

RALEIGH, N.C. – After spending the first portion of its season on the road, the No. 6/9 NC State men's and women's swimming and diving teams will host their first home meet of the 2018-19 campaign as they welcome UNC-Chapel Hill to the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center on Saturday, Jan. 19. The first diving session is set to begin at 10 a.m., and the swimming events are scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

MEET INFO:
In addition to being the Pack's first home meet of the season, NC State will honor its senior class during Saturday's meet with the celebration of Senior Day. The Wolfpack seniors will wear red caps during competition.

Saturday's meet against UNC-CH is a Red Out, and all fans are encouraged to wear red to support the Wolfpack. The promotions for this weekend's home meet include:

Red light-up batons for the first 350 fans
T-shirts for the first 100 students
Enter to win two tickets to the NC State men's basketball game vs. Virginia Tech
Post-meet autographs with the team

For more about parking and other home meet information, visit the NC State swimming and diving home meet central.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Pack last saw action as a full squad at the Indiana Invitational in November. Between the men and the women, NC State took first place in 15 events at the meet.

NC State's women picked up the win with 1,592 points, placing first ahead of four other teams, three of which were ranked at the time of competition (No. 8 Louisville, No. 13 Indiana and No. 3 Purdue).

The Pack men took second place at the IU Invitational with a total of 1,666.5 points, finishing behind host and then second-ranked Indiana.

NC State's divers were in action two weekends ago at the Georgia Diving Invitational where they kicked off the 2019 calendar year against some of the nation's best divers. Madeline Kline won the platform on the final day of competition as the Wolfpack secured a total of seven top-12 finishes throughout the three days of competition.

PACK IN THE POLLS:
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) released its latest poll on Jan. 5, and the Pack men checked in at No. 6 overall while the Wolfpack women landed at No. 9 in the nation. NC State has yet to see either of its squads fall outside of the top 11 since the CSCAA released its preseason poll.

ACC PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK:
NC State's divers swept the conference awards on Jan. 7 after a solid outing at the Georgia Diving Invitational. Holt Gray and Madeline Kline were honored as ACC Divers of the Week, the first members of the Wolfpack to earn the designation by the conference this season. Kline picked up a win on the platform, an event in which she is the reigning ACC champion, and also finished in the top five on the one-meter. Gray reached the finals in all three events, securing his best finish of the meet on the three-meter, where he placed fifth.

Senior captain Andreas Vazaios has been honored by the league office as ACC Men's Swimmer of the Week twice during the 2018-19 season. His most recent honors came on Nov. 12 after he put up a meet-best scoring performance and won gold in two individual events at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

RECORDS FALLING:
Through its first portion of the 2018-19 season, the Pack has seen two of its program records – one SCY and one LCM – broken, with both of the new marks having been set by NC State freshmen.

Emma Muzzy set a new program record of 4:05.60 in the 400-yard individual medley in just her third meet as a member of the Wolfpack women. She took second place in the event by just .04 seconds at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in November, and her time was also an NCAA B cut.

Sophie Hansson built upon her successful rookie campaign by setting a school record in the 100-meter breaststroke at the USA Winter National Championships in December. Hansson swam the program's fastest LCM time in the event (1:08.14) on the way to winning silver in the finals at the national meet.

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS:
NC State has swept its last three meetings against UNC-Chapel Hill coming into Saturday's meet. The Pack men have won the last four dual meets against the Tar Heels and are 5-2 against UNC-CH under the leadership of head coach Braden Holloway.

UNC-CH heads into the meet with only one head-to-head loss between its two programs this season. The Tar Heel women enter Saturday's matchup with a perfect 4-0 record and are ranked No. 24 in the latest CSCAA Top 25. UNC-CH's men have dropped just one head-to-head matchup this season, a loss against Navy last weekend.

ORDER OF EVENTS:
9 AM - Doors Open
10 AM - Diving starts (Women 3M, Men 1M)
11 AM - Swimming starts

200 medley relay
1000 freestyle
200 freestyle
100 backstroke
100 breaststroke
200 butterfly
50 freestyle
100 freestyle
200 backstroke
200 breaststroke
500 freestyle
100 butterfly
Diving (Women 1M, Men 3M)
200 individual medley
200 freestyle relay

UP NEXT:
NC State will return home on Saturday, Jan. 26 to host another conference foe as it welcomes Virginia to Raleigh. The meet will mark the Pack's final home contest and last ACC dual matchup of the year.

#GoPack | @packswimdive