Huskers Open Dual Meet Season on the Road

Lincoln- Following the Big 12 Relays, the Nebraska Swimming & Diving team will take to the road this Friday and Saturday for the beginning of their dual meet season. The Huskers travel to Springfield, Mo., for a Friday match-up with Southwest Missouri State before traveling to Carbondale, Ill., on Saturday for a meet against Southern Illinois. Coach Pablo Morales believes both squads are going to be ready to compete with his team.

"I know for a fact they will be ready for us this year," Morales said. "The fact that we actually have to go to their pools now and hit both of those teams in a single road trip will be really challenging. It's a challenge that we've placed upon ourselves to knock out both these dual meets in consecutive days."

Last season, the Huskers defeated both SMS and SIU at home in dominating fashion, downing SIU 144-91 and SMS 204-91. The 2-0 start was the beginning of the Huskers' run to a 5-0 non-conference dual record.

The meet on Friday will be SMS' first competition of the year. SIU opened its season last week with a 192-49 win over Evansville.

"Both of these teams are improved from last year," Morales said. "They came in last year for our first two dual meets which were good confidence builders for us. They set the tone for the year that we would be competitive in a dual meet situation."

The Huskers’ only two dual losses of the season were to Kansas and Missouri, who was ranked No. 23 at the time.

Following this weekend's competitions, the Huskers will return home for the Alumni Meet. The meet will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Pool.