As if the seven first-places finishes over the weekend weren’t enough, Houston senior swimmer Sasha Schwendenwein added Conference USA Swimmer of the Week to her list of accomplishments.
Schwendenwein and junior diver Anastasia Pozdniakova, who was named the Conference USA Swimmer and Diver of the week on Monday, swept the weekly conference honors for the second time this season.
Schwendenwein placed first in each of her events against Michigan State and Oakland. Although the Cougars fell to the Spartans 126-117, she won the 200-yard freestyle in 1minute 48:23 seconds, the second-fastest time in school history and setting the record at McCaffree Pool. She also set a pool record in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing in 1:58:70, fifth all-time in UH record books.
Pozdniakova won all four of her events over the weekend, earning 382.12 points in the 3-meter competition and 325.88 in the 1-meter against Michigan State. She also set records at the Aquatic Center at Oakland, scoring 396.07 points in the 3-meter competition and racking up 375.67 points in the 1-meter.
The Cougars are 3-1 on the season and face off against New Mexico State and Rice at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
She’s digging it
Sophomore defensive specialist Amanda Carson was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
In Houston’s games against Southern Methodist and Tulsa on Friday and Saturday, Carson averaged a Conference-best 5.71 digs per set for the week. She leads UH with 321 digs on the season in 99 sets.
As a freshman, Carson led the Cougars with 611 digs on the season, seventh-best in UH single-season history. Her 2007 average of 4.35 digs a game was fifth best in C-USA, and she recorded a season-high 35 digs in the Cougars’ last game of the regular season, a 3-2 victory over Tulsa on Nov. 11.
Houston plays the first matchup of a three-game home stand to end the season on 7 p.m. Friday against Memphis.
Iron Man
The Cougars finished their fall season at the Baylor Intercollegiate on Oct. 27, placing ninth out of 12 teams.
Senior Ben Moser was the Cougars’ top finisher for the third consecutive tournament, earning a 15th-place finish with scores of 73 and 74 in the first two rounds to lead the Cougars.
Moser also tied for 15th in the Cougars’ other two tournaments of the season, the Mean Green Classic and the Kansas Invitational in September.
Houston returns to competition in the Rice Intercollegiate on Feb. 16.
Conference USA defensive player of the week sophomore defensive specialist Amanda Carson, shown against SMU, has a team-high 321 digs this season. | Gregory Bohuslav / The Daily Cougar
