UNC swimming splits dual meet against Virginia

North Carolina freshman Dominick Glavich knew he needed to pull out a win.

The Virginia men’s swim team had won events 10, 11 and 12 in Saturday’s meet against UNC, and the Tar Heels desperately needed to break the streak.

Before Glavich swam in the 100-yard butterfly Saturday, UNC swim coach Rich DeSelm drove that point home.

“He doesn’t shy away from the fire,” DeSelm said. “When he gets put in a situation where people are counting on him, he likes it and he thrives.”

Glavich’s win in the butterfly, followed by a victory in the 200-yard individual medley, sealed UNC’s first victory against Virginia since 2008 — only its second since 1998.

The No. 16 UNC men’s swimming and diving team won the meet 166-134. Glavich supplied 27 of those points as he won three individual events. The No. 15 UNC women fell to Virginia 170-130.

Glavich gave a great deal of the credit for his individual performance to his teammates, who inspired his focus.

“I know the upperclassmen wanted this really bad. Their eagerness for success makes me want to be successful,” Glavich said.

“I was focused. I kept everything out of my head.”

Senior sprinter Steve Cebertowicz had never beaten Virginia until Saturday, so topping the Cavaliers was one of his main goals for the 2011-12 season.

“It’s a pretty special thing to beat Virginia,” he said. “It’s great to do it at home. It was a lot of fun.”

Cebertowicz contributed to the victory by winning both of his individual events — the 50- and 100-yard freestyle — and he also swam on the winning 400-yard and 200-yard medley relay teams.

During Saturday’s meet, Virginia never won more than three consecutive events. Keeping the momentum was Cebertowicz’s plan from the beginning of the meet.

“Virginia always comes out spitting fire,” he said. “They have done some serious damage in the 100-yard freestyle, so it was important that this year we kept the momentum going instead of hitting that brick wall we have hit in the past.”

DeSelm was pleased with the performance of his men’s squad, but he emphasized the importance of his swimmers’ keeping their heads on straight after the victory.

“They know it’s one day and a moment in time, but they’d rather be on this side of the ledger than the other,” DeSelm said. “I just hope these guys learn and remember that they have the ability to be champions. They have the make-up to be a great team.”

The UNC women’s team swam shortly after the men’s meet, as Virginia requested the meets be separated by gender. The North Carolina women got off to a quick start, but they were no match for the depth of Virginia’s roster.

One bright spot for the North Carolina women was the performance of sophomore swimmer Stephanie Peacock, who won two individual events on the day.

But despite Peacock’s individual wins, the women’s meet seemed to be slipping away from the Tar Heels after the first two events. Virginia won 10 of the remaining 14 events on the day.

“I think we have some excellent swimmers and divers,” DeSelm said, “but we just didn’t have enough frontline talent and we didn’t have enough depth. We’ll go back to work Monday.”

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