Last year, Virginia snapped the women's swimming and diving team's nine-meet winning streak. Saturday, however, the Lady Lions (7-1) were able to keep a seven-meet win streak alive with an 161-139 upset of the No. 10 Lady Cavaliers (4-2).

"It's definitely our biggest win in a dual-meet situation," Coach Bob Krimmel said. "It was the first time we beat somebody in the top 10."

"We were really excited," diver Amy Schmidt said. "Virginia was looking more toward next week when they go against UNC."

Kristen Lilly, Sharon Detering, Jen Baird and Lori Williams helped set the tone of the meet in the 200-yard medley relay. The team once again started the meet with a win in the event finishing with a time of 1:49.7. The Lady Lions never looked back after that.

"It was really good, because we got the momentum going," Lilly said.

"I knew we had to win it, if we were going to win the meet," Krimmel said.

Lilly, Baird and Williams went on to dominate the day. Lilly won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events with times of 24.10, 51.65 and 1:50.14 respectively.

Baird also swept the butterfly events and Williams continued her impressive showing in the backstroke races, winning both the 100 and 200. Baird, who was recruited by Virginia, won the 100 butterfly in 58.48 and the 200 butterfly in 2:01.15. Williams won the 100 backstroke in 1:00.17 and the 200 backstroke in 2:08.77.

The team had key second place finishes in the 500 and 1000 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Heather Nicholson pulled double duty by finishing second in the 500 (5:03.48) and then in the 1000 freestyle (10:20.66). Janet Worobel finished behind Williams in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.23.

There was also second place finishes in the diving competition. Schmidt was runner-up in both the 1- and 3-meter board. Schmidt scored 240 points on the 1-meter board and totaled 169.55 on the 3-meter.

"We knew it was going to be a difficult pool to dive in," Schmidt said. "The way the pool is arranged, there's windows at either end that cause a glare in the water."

Because Pittsburgh's pool is similar, Schmidt said last week's meet prepared her for this week. The team also had Friday to warm-up and prepare for the meet.

After having a first-place finisher in the first six meets, the last two meets the divers' best finishes has been third and second respectively.

"After Christmas, we were concentrating on some new things," Schmidt said. "Once everything starts to click again, we should start getting the firsts back."

The team is gaining momentum toward the home stretch of the season. One key is the confidence the team has.

"We have confidence in each other," Krimmel said. "That's one of the things that has helped the team."

Even though Krimmel said the meet was another stepping stone toward the Eastern Championships, the victory was significant for the team on a national level.

"It definitely builds confidence," Krimmel said. "One of the things we like to do is build toward Easterns by swimming against top swimmers."

"It proves that we are capable of being one of the best teams in the nation," Lilly added.

The Lady Lions' final home meet of the season will be Saturday at McCoy Natatorium, when the team hosts the LaSalle Lady Explorers.