Ties are not exactly common in a sport that hands out 300 points in head-to-head competition.

It is rare for the margins to be so tight – with a skew of points spread across 16 different events – and to balance out evenly.

No. 23 UCLA swim and dive (0-1-1) picked up a 150-150 tie in a dual meet for just the third time in program history while facing off against No. 18 Arizona State (1-2-1) Friday, before falling to Arizona (1-1) the next day 160-139.

Despite the winless weekend, senior Rosie Murphy set a school record with a 1:52:39 in the 200-yard backstroke, which surpassed the 1:53:13 she set her sophomore year.

Missing multiple athletes from their usual lineup, coach Jordan Cordry said the team exceeded expectations Friday.

“On paper, we should have lost that meet to Arizona State by 75 points, and we were down a handful of scorers for various reasons,” Cordry said. “We went in with a smaller group than we expected and just really stepped the heck up. It was an epic performance.”

The Bruins recorded wins in 12 of 16 total events Friday, including both diving events, with senior Eden Cheng securing victories in the one-meter and three-meter competitions.

However, the Sun Devils made up the difference with more consistent second through fifth placements.

“There’s a piece where a few people – not a few people, this whole team – said, ‘Okay. I know my job. I know what I need to do right now given the challenge,’ and they just went big, stepped way up,” Cordry said. “So there was a mindset about it. But then also, I think there’s a belief in those top performances like, ‘I can do anything I want to’.”

Cordry said Murphy’s record-breaking time didn’t surprise her, adding that Murphy seems poised for a big year in the pool.

Murphy said she knew she could break her record and is hoping to push it further this season.

“It felt really good to break my own record,” Murphy said. “It was a long time coming. Last year, I didn’t get quite there, so I’ve been working really hard to get back to where I was. To be able to get out of the pool and have all my teammates come and hug me was such an amazing feeling. I’m so grateful to have them during those special moments.”

Junior Sarah Bennetts also had a personal best performance Friday, winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a 59.97 – her first time clocking under a minute in that race.

Bennetts said she has been working toward breaking the one-minute barrier for nearly three years.

“I honestly could not see the clock at first. But I did hear a lot of people cheering, and then I took off my goggles, and I was squinting at the board,” Bennetts said. “Then I saw that my name was next to the 59, and then I realized that it was me.”

UCLA had back-to-back dual meets for the first time this year. The under-19-hour turnaround included a bus trip from Tempe to Tucson Saturday morning, before the 9:30 a.m. meet at Arizona.

“It adds to the experience of a double dual meet on the road and adds to something that you need to be prepared for,” Murphy said. “It is tough getting on a bus and then going straight into the meet. We didn’t have that much time warming up – as we usually do. But again, I think we prepared for it well. And the last 30 minutes of the bus ride, we all got up, started playing music and getting ready – so I think we handled it well.”

The Bruins’ freshman swimmers also continued to stand out.

Freshman Jada Duncan recorded five wins and one second-place finish across the weekend. Against Arizona, freshman Applejean Gwinn grabbed a win in the 1000-yard freestyle, about seven minutes before clinching a podium finish in the 200-yard butterfly.

UCLA is done with dual meets for the rest of the Fall season, but will compete at the Ohio State Invite in Columbus, Ohio, from Nov. 18 to Nov. 21.