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Saturday evening, the Bruins will make their final trip away from home to take on the Utah Utes at 7pm/PT at the Huntsman Center. Last weekend, the Bruins topped Stanford with a nation-high score of 198.125, beating the Cardinal by nearly four points. The score was the highest the Bruins recorded since the NCAA Super Six in 2004. The Bruins were 24-for-24 on their routines, including 10 scores of 9.9 or higher, and two 9.975s. As if those scores weren’t high enough, Madison Kocian and Christine Peng-Peng Lee made history as they both scored a perfect 10 on the uneven bars, becoming the first UCLA teammates to do so in the same meet. Kocian earned her second Pac 12 Freshman of the Week nod and Lee received her second Specialist of the Week. This squad is definitely on a hot streak and will roll into Salt Lake City ready to take on the 2-1 Utes.
The #5 Utes are 2-1 in Pac-12 competition. They lost to #11 Oregon State last weekend by only .025, which caused them to drop one spot in the national rankings. Utah is ranked in the top ten nationally in four events, and are lead by Freshman MyKayla Skinner (a member of the 2016 United States Olympic team), Senior Baely Rowe, and Sophomore Makenna Merrell. Skinner is undefeated in the all-around and on vault, and has 23 total wins. Additionally, she has received Pac 12 Freshman of the Week honors three times this season. Merrell has had back to back career highs on beam since moving to the number two spot on the lineup, scoring a 9.875 against both Cal and OSU.
Utah lost two starters this year to season ending injuries: Sophomore All-American and 2016 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Sabrina Schwab (knee) and freshman Kim Tessen (ankle). Schwab was competing in the all-around, while Tesson was a two to three event starter.
#4 UCLA Bruins (4-1, 3-0)
Opponent: #5 Utah Utes
When: Saturday, February 18, 2017, 7:00 pm PT, 8:00 PM MT
Where: Huntsman Center
Meet Notes:
TV: ESPNU with Bart Conner, Kathy Johnson-Clarke, Laura Rutledge and Holly Rowe
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Live Stats: utahutes.com
Radio/Audio: None
Go Bruins!