Tulane University
Vanderbilt
Swimming & Diving Rallies To Defeat Vanderbilt, 133-129
Feb 5, 2011 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 5, 2011
Tulane/Vanderbilt Results in PDF Format 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore Kayla Alf-Huynh posted a pair of individual wins and swam the lead-off leg of the Green Wave's 400 free relay as the Tulane University women's swimming and diving team rallied from behind to defeat Vanderbilt, 133-129, Saturday evening at the Centennial AquaPlex.
The Green Wave trailed 127-118 heading into the final event of the evening, and Tulane head coach Lena Guarriello knew her team needed a 1-2 finish in the 400 free relay to come away with a victory. Guarriello shifted her initial line-up and sent rookie Rachel Ranson from the A team to the B squad. The move paid off in spades as Tulane posted the top two times in the event to rally for the win.
The victory was the second in as many years for Tulane over Vanderbilt as the Green Wave wrapped up the regular season with a 5-8 dual-meet record. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, fell to 1-7 for the year.
"Overall, we had a good day," Guarriello said. "We had some great events and some not-so-great events. But we entered the final race of the day behind Vanderbilt, and I think the girls learned a lot about themselves and their teammates in the last four minutes of the meet. Win or lose, the close meets are the ones you never really forget. It just feels really good to walk away with the win today.
"Kayla was our only triple-winner today. She's been working hard on fine tuning some of her races and is working towards what I think will be a great conference meet for her."
Alf-Huynh spearheaded the charge in the 400 free relay, joining Grace Tarka, Allie Evans and Hagar Elgendy to post a time of 3:32.89. The quartet of Kylie Kastes, Cari Caprio, Kristine Gu and Ranson, meanwhile, were next at 3:34.79 to edge the Commodores' A relay team by 0.67 seconds.
In addition, Alf-Huynh posted victories in the 100 back and 50 free with marks of 58.82 and 24.53, respectively. Also posting individual wins for Tulane on Saturday were Ranson in the 100 (53.70) and 200 (1:55.06) freestyles, Emily Needham in the 200 butterfly (2:07.58) and Erin Cunningham in the 400 individual medley (4:38.09).
The Green Wave posted a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 free as Elgendy finished second to Ranson with a 53.70 while Kastes touched the wall at 54.02. Tulane also posted 1-2 finishes in the 50 free as Elgendy posted a time of 24.71 and the 100 back where Lauren Pfohl clocked a 59.03. Tarka and Kastes, meanwhile, finished 2-3 in the 100 fly with respective times of 58.13 and 59.54.
While Tulane finished on top, the meet did not begin as planned as Vanderbilt won the opening event with a 3:55.69 in the 400 medley relay to claim the early advantage. Alf-Huynh, Cunningham, Tarka and Elgendy paced the Wave in the event with a 3:57.37 to finish second while Pfohl, Shelby Kiser, Gisele Calderon and Ranson were next at 3:58.37.
Evans led the Tulane effort in the 1650 and 500 freestyles, finishing third in both events at 17:42.39 and 5:10.30, respectively. Calderon posted a third-place showing in the 200 fly (2:09.30), as did Pfohl in the 200 back (2:09.88). Kiser paced the Green Wave in the 100 (1:09.29) and 200 (2:29.53) breaststrokes to finish fourth in both events.
"I was a little disappointed at the start of the meet," Guarriello said. "We were hoping to win both relays and were a little stunned by Vanderbilt. From that point on, they made this the toughest win we've ever had."
The Green Wave return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 23, when they open play in the 2010 Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship at the University of Houston's Campus Wellness and Recreation Center. The event will run through Saturday, Feb. 26, and Tulane will look to claim its first league title since the 2005 season.
Players Mentioned
