#3 UCLA Gymnastics Looks to Bounce Back Against #18 Oregon State

This afternoon, the UCLA gymnastics team is in Corvallis for a meet against the Oregon State Beavers. Today’s meet starts at 1 pm PT.

Last Time Out

Last weekend against Utah, UCLA notched a season-high 198.025, but it just wasn’t enough for the win. Utah came to play and scored a season-high 198.075 of their own to hand the Bruins their second conference loss of the season.

UCLA started the meet on vault and, after a trio of 9.850s from Nia Dennis, Gracie Kramer and Kendal Poston, Pauline Tratz was up and added a 9.750. Four strong vaults paved the way for Felicia Hano to earn a 9.875 and Kyla Ross ended the rotation with a near-perfect 9.975. Meanwhile, Utah had a superb performance on the uneven bars. Even with solid scores, UCLA was down after rotation one, 49.600 to 49.375.

In rotation two, the Bruins began the uneven bars rotation with Hano who had an unexpected fall. Her 9.250 would be dropped, but the rest of the bars lineup supported her with a strong performance. Savannah Kooyman was up next and earned a career-high 9.900 while Norah Flatley followed with a 9.825. Freshman Kalyany Steele also earned a career-high score of 9.925 and Madison Kocian contributed a 9.750. Ross was once again the rotation anchor and added a 9.925. After two rotations, UCLA had closed the gap but was still down, 98.825 to 98.700.

Rotation three was a history maker, with Grace Glenn earning the first lead-off perfect 10 on balance beam in NCAA history. The entire lineup was on fire after that when Samantha Satki earned a 9.800, Flatley and Hano each added a pair of 9.825s, and Nicki Shapiro contributed a 9.900. Ross bookended the balance beam rotation with a 9.975, and the Bruins had inched closer to Utah’s total score. After three rotations, Utah was still up, 148.300 to 148.225.

The final rotation found the Bruins on the floor, which showcased UCLA at their best. Flatley started off with a 9.925, and three Bruins, Dennis, Kramer, and Ross, all earned 9.975s to share the floor title. Chloe Lashbrooke added a 9.900 while Hano notched a 9.950. UCLA totaled a 49.800 in this rotation, becoming the first team in the nation to earn such a high score in any event. Unfortunately, the floor routines were not enough and the Bruins fell to Utah, 198.075 to 198.025, even though they hit a season-high total in the process.

Ross earned her seventh all-around title in a row with a score of 39.825 and both Ross and Glenn earned conference honors for the week. Ross received her fourth Gymnast of the Week award while Glenn received her second Specialist of the Week honor.

Today’s Meet

Today, UCLA takes on the #18 Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis in their last conference road meet for 2020. OSU has a roster stacked with seniors, including Halli Briscoe, Lacy Dagen, Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill, Jaime Law, Maela Lazaro, Isis Lowery and Alyssa Minyard. Lacy’s sister, Madi Dagen, had a career-high meet last week, recording at least 9.900 on all three of her events, which included a 9.925 on vault. Last week at UC Berkeley, OSU posted its best vault score of the year at 49.150 and set a season-best road total with a 196.600, but it would prove to still be short of a win. The Beavers hit all 24 routines for only the second time this season.

UCLA should have another strong performance and add another win to their schedule today. Look for yet another strong floor routine from Kramer, who is ranked #3 in the country and #1 in the Pac-12. Ross is on fire and ranked #1 in the country in the all-around, #2 in the balance beam and #3 on the floor.


Go Bruins!