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After going on the road to beat the Oregon State Beavers, the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team is home today to host the UC Berkeley Bears in their final Pac-12 meet of the season.
Last Time Out
Last weekend in Corvallis, UCLA beat OSU 197.250-196.825. In the first rotation, UCLA was on the uneven bars and the Beavers started on vault. Felicia Hano started the Bruins off strong with a career-high tying 9.875, but an uncharacteristic fall from Savannah Kooyman required her 9.125 to be dropped. Nicki Shapiro got the team back on track with a 9.775 and Kalyany Steele and Norah Flatley added a pair of 9.850s. To end the rotation, Kyla Ross scored her eighth 9.975 of the season and the Beavers were trailing the Bruins, 49.325 to 48.725.
The two teams switched on rotation two, sending UCLA to the vault. Nia Dennis and Gracie Kramer each started the event with a 9.825 and Kendal Poston followed with a 9.775. Sekai Wright was in the middle of the rotation and earned a 9.700 and Hano contributed a 9.850. Ross brought it home with a 9.875 and ensured UCLA was still in the lead. OSU closed the gap a bit, but UCLA was still out in front, 98.475 to 98.125.
During the third rotation, both teams earned identical scores of 49.250 and UCLA faced their first floor exercise loss of the season with some out of character mistakes. Chloe Lashbrooke got UCLA going in the right direction with a 9.825 and Emma Andres followed with a 9.800, but a step out of bounds took 0.100 off her score to bring it down to a 9.700. An unfortunate fall for Pauline Tratz required her score to be dropped, but the last half of the floor line up kept UCLA moving forward. Hano added a 9.875 and Dennis and Kramer each notched a 9.925. After completing the third rotation, UCLA preserved the lead, 147.725 to 147.375.
The final rotation was the beam, which had given UCLA trouble earlier in the season, but this definitely was not the case last weekend. Grace Glenn once again had a stellar start with a 9.925 while Samantha Satki and Hano each contributed another career-high score of 9.850. Flatley came out strong with a 9.900 and Shapiro added a 9.875. Ross finished the rotation with another near-perfect 9.975. In this event, UCLA earned a season-high-tying 49.525 to give the Bruins the win, 197.250-196.825, and Hano won her second all-around title of her career, scoring 39.450.
Today’s Meet
For the second time this season, UCLA will be facing UC Berkeley. The two teams met back in January to open the season at the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim. Back then, UCLA came away in second place ahead of the Bears, 196.575-196.200.
The Bears have won four in a row and are coming off a 196.400-196.275 win over #24 Arizona. Berkeley has been fighting some injuries, but have stayed strong as they scored a 39.475 on vault last weekend, which is the second-highest score in school history.
Today’s meet will also honor the 2000 and 2010 championship winning teams on the 10th and 20th anniversaries of their victories. Alumni will be honored at the close of the meet.
Go Bruins!