Freshman Jorie Caneta (left) keeps pace with Cal sophomore Celina Li in the 200-meter breaststroke, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2015, at Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex in Tempe. ASU senior Tory Houston (not pictured) won with a time of 2:16:81; Caneta finished second with a time of 2:17:52. (Krista Tillman/The State Press)The ASU swim and dive team struggled early against California and despite a much-improved second half of the meet and fell to the star-studded Golden Bears.
The ASU men and women were defeated by scores of 163-130 and 197.5-102.5, respectively.
Cal won 12 of the first 13 events in the meet and never looked back.
Despite winning two straight events to close out the first half of the meet, the ASU men (3-7) trailed 96-51 at the break. Through the first 16 events, its only three first place finishes came from sophomore Tadas Duskinas in the 50 freestyle and David Hoffer in the 1-meter dive.
The women (4-6) faltered early at the hands of Olympian Missy Franklin and Cal, the No. 1 women’s team in the nation according to the CSCAA Coaches Poll. Despite the Sun Devils' winning streak of four entering the meet, the Golden Bears jumped out to a 96.5-53.5 lead through the first 16 events.
For ASU, freshman Jorie Caneta won the 100 breaststroke and finished second in the 200 breaststroke behind teammate Tory Houston. Caneta was a nominee for Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month of December for the women.
Head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said the team performed well, but ran into a powerhouse opponent.
“Our breaststrokers swam well and others gave us a lift, but it wasn’t enough,” she said. “Cal is a very good program and we’re just fortunate to get the opportunity to race against one of the country’s premiere programs.”
Franklin and teammate junior Elizabeth Pelton scored multiple wins in events for Cal. Pelton, the NCAA champion in the 200 backstroke from two years ago, easily finished first in the event once again and showed her versatility by also winning the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
Tierney-Walker said she commends her swimmers for giving the two Cal superstars a challenge.
“Jorie and Tory really helped performed well against great opposition today,” she said. “They have been consistent performers for us all year.”
ASU's Christian Lorenz and Houston both won the 200 breaststroke, giving ASU its first and only back-to-back first place finishes of the meet.
Cal’s talent appeared to be too much for the Sun Devils to overcome as ASU’s Melanie Busch and Kat Simonovic, who hold top times for this year’s team, were not able to win their respective races.
However, ASU diving contributed mightily to the overall effort. Hoffer and redshirt senior Hailey Casper won both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives for the men and women, respectively.
Tierney-Walker said she is especially proud of the divers, specifically Casper.
“We have some great young talent who specialize in diving,” she said. “Hailey has been great for us, not only in her performance, but in the way she continues to work hard and carry herself in a professional manner.”
Looking ahead, ASU will look to have a better start to the meet and get back on track against the Stanford Cardinal Saturday.
“We will review the film and look at splits,” Tierney-Walker said. “The great thing about these back-to-back dual meets is that we get a chance to quickly analyze our performance and then go out and improve the next day.”
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3
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