LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV swimming and diving teams split their home opener vs. BYU Saturday night at Jim Reitz Pool, with the Rebels' women claiming a 189-111 win and men being edged,154-144, in their duals against the Cougars. This was the first time the Rebels topped the Cougars in a head-to-head competition since the 2016-17 season, as the last victory came exactly five years ago on Nov. 5, 2016.

On the women's side, the Rebels came away with eight individual event wins and swept their pair of relays. Meanwhile, the Scarlet and Gray's men's squad won five individual events and a relay,  but ultimately was overcome by BYU's sweep of the men's diving competitions.

REBELS OF THE MEET:

Women
Men
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
*Sophomore Ruby Howell added another event win in the 400 IM to lead a 1-2 Rebel finish. She finished first with a time of 4:27.97 and was followed closely behind by senior Gabby Lizzul (4:28.75) in second.
*Another Scarlet and Gray victory came by way of a 1-2-3 UNLV sweep led by sophomore Blanka Bokros in the 200 fly. Bokros' first-place finish with a time of 2:00.51 was paired with second- and third-place finishes by Lizzul (2:03.37) and freshman Cameron Mykkanen (2:04.44), respectively.
*Schneider's pair of 50 and 100 free victories also headlined a Rebel sweep of the top three spots in those races. Malia Fernandez placed second in the 50 free (23.50) and 100 free (51.75), while senior Ava Haase took third in the 50 free (24.01) and 100 free (52.26)
*Kicking off the meet, the UNLV 'A' unit of Afanasyeva, Bartlett, sophomore Sarah Koopmans and Schneider combined for a time of 1:42.32 to win the 200 medley relay.
*In the last event, the Rebels' relays continued to show their strength on the way to a first-place finish by their 'A' squad of Schneider, Fernandez, Afanasyeva and Haase (3:24.89).
*Leading the way in the distance scoring for UNLV, senior Teneka Ash notched a second-place finish in the 500 free (4:59.36) and a third-place finish in the 1000 free (10:18.29).
*Sophomore Vika Yanovska enjoyed matching second-place finishes on the 3-meter (281.65) and 1-meter boards (263.70) as the Rebels' top diver on the night.

THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*Capping off the Scarlet and Gray individual event wins, senior Richard Szilagyi added a first-place finish in the 100 free (45.09). Szilagyi also tallied a podium finish in the 100 back, touching third with a time of 49.19.
*Beji's 200 breast victory formed yet another 1-2 UNLV punch in that event, as senior Ivan Zhukau (2:02.56) joined him in second place.
*In a thrilling finish to the swimming portion of the meet, the Rebel 'A' team of Szilagyi, junior Steven Butler, seniors Bryan Chavez and Reece Hemmens eclipsed BYU in the 400 free relay by just two-tenths of a second for the win. Chavez helped UNLV regain the lead and Hemmens anchored the win with a 20.42 on his first 50 yards and 43.63 overall leg to hold off a Cougar comeback.
*Also of note, senior Reece Hemmens and sophomore George Ratiu tied for second in a tight 50 free race with a time of 20.55. The Rebel duo finished within .27 seconds of BYU's first-place finisher Connor Stirling.
*On the men's diving side, freshman Dima Tereshchenko provided UNLV's points in the 1-meter (245.95) and 3-meter board (300.15) competitions with a pair of third-place finishes.