January 25, 1999

THIS WEEK - The 10th-ranked UCLA women's gymnastics team (3-2) will host 19th-ranked Washington (2-2), 17th-ranked Maryland (4-0) and UCSB (0-3) in a quadrangular meet Sunday, Jan. 31 at the John Wooden Center at 2:00 pm.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS - Washington is coached by two-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year Bob Levesque. The Huskies, who won the West Regionals last season, won their first meet of 1999 last Friday with wins over Arizona and Nebraska. Washington has been without senior All-American Tiffany Simpson, who is out with a stress fracture in her leg. In her place, Lanna Apisukh and Lauren Reisenman have stepped up on the all-around front, both ranking in the Top 15 nationally. Maryland entered last week as the No. 1 beam team in the nation after scoring a nation-high 49.325 in its season opener. The Terrapins are led by Gillian Cote, who ranks seventh nationally in the all-around with a high of 39.15. UCLA bars record-holder Megan Fenton returns to Westwood in her second year as head coach at UC Santa Barbara. She replaced Randy Lane, who left UCSB in 1998 to return to UCLA as an assistant coach.

BRUINS SCORE SEASON-BEST 194.575, DEFEAT OSU - UCLA won its first Pac-10 meet of the season, outscoring Oregon State 194.575-194.45 at Corvallis. The Bruins needed clutch performances on beam from Lena Degteva and Luisa Portocarrero to clinch the victory. The duo responded by scoring 9.775s. Oregon State needed a 10.0 in its final routine on floor to tie, but Megan Murphy-Barcroft could only score a 9.875.

SCORES BUILDING EACH MEET - Every coaches' dream is to improve each meet, and UCLA is doing just that. With each meet, the Bruins have improved upon their team score. After scoring a 191.15 in their first meet, the Bruins totalled 193.5 in their next, then 193.525 in the one after that. UCLA's win over Oregon State showed over a one-point improvement from the week before.

TWO BRUINS BREAK 39 IN ALL-AROUND - Junior Lena Degteva (Mississauga, Ontario) hit season-highs on bars (9.85), beam (9.775) and floor (9.85), as well as a third-place score of 9.75 on vault to win the all-around with a personal and team season-best 39.225. Senior Kiralee Hayashi (Kailua, HI) was second with a season-high 39.1. Hayashi placed first on beam with a season-high 9.8 and tied for first on floor with another season-best 9.875.

MONEYMAKER WINS THREE EVENTS - Junior Heidi Moneymaker (Santa Rosa, CA) nearly swept the event awards, claiming first place honors and season-best scores on vault (9.8), bars (9.875) and floor (9.875). Moneymaker's win on bars was her second consecutive.

DYSON MAKES UCLA DEBUT - Former U.S. National Team member Kaitie Dyson (Conroe, TX) made her UCLA debut last Friday, placing fifth on the balance beam with a 9.675. Dyson missed the Bruins' first three meets of the season with a back injury.

VELASCO MAKES ALL-AROUND DEBUT - Freshman Valerie Velasco (Fullerton, CA/Rosary HS) competed in the all-around for the first time as a Bruin and scored a 37.925. Velasco scored a career-high 9.625 on vault, a career-high 9.675 on bars, a 9.025 on beam and a 9.6 on floor.