UH Swimming and Diving Falls to Rice

HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston swimming and diving team opened its 2002 home slate Saturday at the UH Natatorium but not the way the Cougars wanted as Rice rolled to a 149-88 win.

The Owls captured first place in all 11 swimming individual and relay events and placed 1-2 in eight of those events to take the win.

UH sophomore diver Yulia Pakhalina extended her collegiate winning streak to 25 consecutive events on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. The Moscow, Russia, native won the 1-meter competition with 334.35 points and ended the 3-meter event with 368.10 points. Pakhalina, the 2001 NCAA national champion in both springboard events, was the only diver to crack the 300-point mark in each event.

In swimming action, senior Stacey Ebeling placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:24.01, while freshman Vicki Blocker earned a second-place finish with a time of 2:09.42 in the 200-yard backstroke.

Lucile Turpin finished third in the 200-yard freestyle but set a new season personal best with a time of 1:57.19. The sophomore also posted a new Cougar season best in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:34.67 on the way to a third-place finish.

The Cougars, who fell to 2-8 in dual meets this season, will compete in their final two home meets next week on back-to-back days. After hosting Conference USA rival TCU in a 7 p.m. match Friday, UH turns around to host SMU at noon Saturday. All UH home dual meets are held in the UH Natatorium and are free and open to the public, which is invited to attend.