The men's swimming and diving team squeaked by the University of Virginia, 123.5-119.5, in a meet decided by the anchor swimmers in the last relay.

"We needed to finish first and second to win the meet," Coach Peter Brown said. "I knew it would come down to the last two or three events, so I saved some strong guys for the end."

The first three swimmers touched the wall within a second of each other in the 400 freestyle relay with senior Brian Wentzel arriving first in 3:07.7, just ahead of sophomore Walt Sopp's team (3:08), which edged the third-place Cavaliers (3:08.6).

Wentzel, the only double winner for Penn State, took first in the 100 freestyle in 46.5 and led teammates Walt Sopp and Jack Moss in a sweep of the 50 freestyle in 21.1.

"Virginia was a little weak in its sprint events, so the coach (Brown) expected us to do well," Wentzel said. "We knew the meet would be close, so second, third and fourth place finishes are just as important as first place."

Steve Wukitch took the 200 breaststroke in 2:07.0, followed by captain Drew Van Winkle and senior Bill Matz who placed third and fourth, respectively.

"The meet was touch-and-go the whole time," Brown said, "but the 200 breaststroke was a significant win and probably the turning point in the meet."

"I knew I had to win the race if we were going to have a chance to win the meet," Wukitch said, adding that the pressure will be good experience going into later meets.

Wukitch also finished second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1: 55.5 and swam on the second place 400 medley relay team with Nick Boyce, Brent Matheson and Mike Miklus.

According to Brown, the ability and positive attitude of the Penn State team was the deciding factor in the meet. The Cavaliers won nine out of 13 events, but depth won the meet for the Lions.

Also hindering the Lions was the absence of senior standout Dave Rafferty, who had a job interview in New York City.

The Lions return home to McCoy Natatorium at 4 this afternoon for the first time since mid-November to host the Villanova Wildcats. The Lions seek their fourth consecutive dual meet win of the year.