Oct. 18, 2011

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass men's swimming and diving tandem of Alexander Merkulov and Hao Luong have swept the opening weeks Atlantic 10 honors after their outstanding performance in their season opener against Boston University. Merkulov was named the Men's Swimming and Diving Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week, while Luong was named Rookie of the Week.

Merkulov receives his first Atlantic 10 weekly honor after sweeping both the one and three-meter dives against BU. He scored career highs in both with scores of 318.52 in the one-meter and 319.65 in the three-meter. He now sits at fifth all-time in the UMass record books in each dive.

Luong, in his first collegiate meet, was able to capture wins in both his individual events: the 100-yard backstroke (52.14) and the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.28). He also picked up the win as the opening leg of the 200-yard medley relay (1:35.18).

Both Merkulov and Luong will look to help the Minutemen to their first dual-meet victory of the season this Saturday as they travel to West Point, N.Y. to take on Army.