Zubkova, IU women's swimming and diving teammates blow visiting Wildcats out of the water Friday

The women’s swimming and diving team improved to 2-0 on Friday with what IU coach Ray Looze termed a “grind-it-out win” against conference foe Northwestern on Friday.

Coming off the most challenging week to date in both the pool and in the weight room, the Hoosiers responded with a 172.5 to 127.5 victory against a strong Wildcat team.

“We worked harder (this week), so you saw some people slow down in certain events, and we got one-two’d in a couple things,” Looze said. “But I thought the girls stayed tough and focused and kept their spirit high.”

Freshman Brittany Strumbel thought her team did well after the week of work.

“I think we responded really well,” Strumbel said. “Everyone tried to stay positive, and the outcome was good.”

The Hoosiers were led once again by junior Kate Zubkova, who for the second straight week was victorious in all four events in which she competed.

Zubkova won the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, as well as the 100-yard butterfly and was a member of the 400-yard individual medley relay team that finished first.

Other winners for the Hoosiers were sophomore Amanda Smith (1000-yard freestyle), sophomore Brittany Barwegan (200-yard butterfly), junior Brittany Feldman (one-meter and three-meter diving), junior Donna Smailis (100-yard freestyle), and senior Sarah Stockwell (200-yard breastroke).

The increased level of effort in practice is part of the team’s overall plan for success, which is to be swimming its fastest times at the end of the season when the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Championships take place. That means coming into some early-season dual meets “beat up and tired,” Looze said.

“Yes, it hurts us physically in the short term,” said senior Kristin Cihoski. “But in the long run, all that matters is what we do at the Big Ten and NCAAs, and this helps us.”

Looze said he is happy with the way the team responded to the adverse circumstances, noting it will be good preparation for a schedule that gets harder as the season progresses. The Hoosiers compete in a three-way meet with Michigan and Texas, two top-10 teams, this Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“We like to schedule the hardest possible teams, so we bring it on ourselves,” Looze said. “But that gets us prepared for the end of the season, the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Championships. Here at IU, those are most important.”

While pleased with his team’s performance, Looze said there are still many things the Hoosiers need to work on to compete at the highest level.

“I’d like to get a few more people going,” Looze said. “I’d like to get the freshmen more consistent, because we have a good freshman class, and we’re going to really need to rely on them.”

After traveling to Michigan this Saturday, the Hoosiers’ next home meet will be the Hoosierland Invite, which takes place Nov. 21-23 in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.