UCLA Competes For NCAA Championships Berth SaturdayUCLA Competes For NCAA Championships Berth Saturday

UCLA Competes For NCAA Championships Berth Saturday

Gymnastics

This Week - Sixth-ranked UCLA (16-8) will travel to Athens, GA for the 2011 NCAA Athens Regional. At stake is one of two berths in the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships. The Regional meet will tak

March 28, 2011

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This Week - Sixth-ranked UCLA (16-8) will travel to Athens, GA for the 2011 NCAA Athens Regional. At stake is one of two berths in the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships. The Regional meet will take place at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday, Apr. 2 at 4 pm ET. Also competing in the meet are No. 8 Georgia, No. 18 LSU, No. 26 North Carolina State, No. 28 Maryland and No. 29 West Virginia.

Coverage - Free live video plus live stats will be available at georgiadogs.com.

Rotation Order - The Bruins will begin the regional meet on floor exercise then will move to vault, then a bye, then bars and beam. UCLA will sit out the last rotation on a bye. West Virginia begins on vault, Maryland begins on a bye before bars, North Carolina State starts on bars, Georgia begins on beam, and LSU starts on a bye before floor.

Regional Championship History - The Bruins have won 18 regional titles, most recently in 2010 in Los Angeles. In last year's meet, UCLA dominated the field, scoring 197.825 to post over a one-point victory over second-place Arkansas (196.675). The Bruins started the meet with a 49.425 on floor exercise on their first event and used that momentum to hit season-highs of 49.55 on their next two events, vault and uneven bars. Needing just 48.175 on beam in the final rotation to take first place, UCLA scored 49.3 to easily clinch the win.

A Look At The Regional Field - Georgia is the No. 2 seed in the Regional and is ranked No. 8 in the nation. The Gym Dogs have posted a season-high score of 197.225 and are averaging 196.240 this season. Georgia has beaten UCLA once this season, 196.175-195.75, on Mar. 6 in Los Angeles after the Bruins suffered three falls on balance beam. Georgia senior Cassidy McComb ranks fourth in the nation in the all-around and won the all-around title at the SEC Championships. Junior Kat Ding, who is tied for first nationally on uneven bars, won the SEC uneven bars title. Georgia placed third at the SEC Championships.

LSU is the No. 3 seed at the regional and ranks 18th nationally. The Tigers have a season-high mark of 196.350 and a season average of 194.877. In their last competition, LSU placed fifth at the SEC Championships with a score of 195.475 after scoring just 47.925 on beam on their first event.

North Carolina State is coming off a sixth-place finish at the EAGL Championships. The Wolfpack have a season-high of 196.075 and a season average of 194.665. The Bruins posted an over two-point victory over NC State in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 197.475-195.025. Maryland placed three spots and nearly two points ahead of NC State at the EAGL Championships. The Terrapins hold a season-best of 195.750. West Virginia was fourth at the EAGL Championships, .275 ahead of NC State. The Mountaineers have posted a season-high of 195.725.

In The Rankings - UCLA remained at No. 6 in the final regular season rankings with a RQS of 196.685 and is ranked fifth on vault (49.275), seventh on bars (49.240), sixth on beam (49.125) and tied for fourth on floor (49.240). Individually, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs remains at No. 1 on balance beam with a RQS of 9.910 and is tied for eighth in the all-around (39.385). Tauny Frattone and Olivia Courtney are tied for No. 6 in the nation on vault with a matching RQS of 9.905.

Last Time Out - UCLA posted its third-highest score of the season, scoring 196.75 to place second at the Pac-10 Championships. The Bruins ran into a hot Oregon State team that scored a season-high 197.2 to win its first conference title since 1996. Freshman Olivia Courtney validated her Pac-10 Freshman of the Year award, winning two events - vault with a career-high 9.95 and bars with a career-high 9.9. Tying with Courtney on bars was junior Aisha Gerber, whose 9.9 was a season-high. Junior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs claimed a share of the floor exercise title with a 9.9. The Pac-10 titles were the first for all three Bruins.

Courtney Named Pac-10 Freshman Of The Year - Olivia Courtney became the seventh Bruin to be named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year since the award was established in 2000. She won two individual titles at the Pac-10 Championships, winning vault with a career-high 9.95 and tying for first on bars with a career-best 9.9. She currently ranks sixth in the nation on vault and has posted season-highs of 9.9 or better on all four events. Courtney has totaled eight event wins on the season, including at least one on each event, and she is averaging 9.7 or better on all four events and 39.119 in the all-around. One of the Bruins' most consistent gymnasts, she has hit 31 of 32 routines this year.

Six Bruins Earn All-Conference Honors - A total of six Bruin gymnasts were named to the All-Pac-10 team for 2011. Junior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs earned first-team honors in the all-around for the second time in her career, and senior Brittani McCullough earned second-team all-around acclaim for the first time. Olivia Courtney and Tauny Frattone earned first-team honors on vault, the first such honor for Courtney and second consecutive honor for Frattone. Pac-10 co-champion Aisha Gerber received first-team honors on uneven bars, and freshman Sydney Sawa earned first-team honors on floor exercise.

Frattone Win Streak Snapped At Seven - Junior Tauny Frattone's seven-meet win streak on vault came to an end at the Pac-10 Championships when she placed fifth with a 9.85. Frattone still holds UCLA's top average on vault (9.880) and is tied for sixth nationally on the event with freshman Olivia Courtney. Frattone has scored 9.8 or better on vault in 22 consecutive meets and in 26 of 28 career meets.

Peszek Back On Three - Freshman Samantha Peszek is now back on three events (vault, bars and beam) after sitting out the first five meets of the year with a foot fracture. Peszek made her collegiate debut on Feb. 11 and tied for first on uneven bars with a 9.9 on her first collegiate routine. She was awarded the Pac-10 Special Performance of the Week honor for this routine. On Feb. 27, she scored a career-high 9.925 on bars to win the event. Peszek competed on vault and beam for the first time Mar. 6, and on Mar. 13, she set collegiate-bests with a 9.875 on vault and 9.8 on beam. She bested her beam season-high at Pac-10s with a team-high 9.875. Peszek leads the team on bars with an average of 9.863 and has won the event in three out of six meets so far.

Hopfner-Hibbs On A Roll - Junior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs has hit 32 consecutive routines without a fall and has posted the Bruins' top all-around score in all eight meets in which she has competed all-around. On beam, she has scored 9.95 three times in nine meets. For the year, she averages over 9.8 on every event - 9.844 on vault, 9.811 on bars, 9.831 on beam and 9.839 on floor. Hopfner-Hibbs, who leads UCLA with 16 individual victories, was named the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week twice this season and has tied the Pac-10 record for most career Gymnast of the Week honors with six.

Tom Honored By APA-UCLA - Senior Niki Tom will be honored on Mar. 31 as one of two Athletes of the Year by the Asian Pacific Alumni of UCLA. Also honored will be football's Micah Kia. Tom, a two-time Pac-10 All-Academic honoree, has had a very strong senior season, competing in all 11 meets and averaging over 9.7 on beam and over 9.8 on floor. She ranks in the Top 15 on those two events in the West Region and has one event win, capturing first-place honors on floor with a career-high-tying 9.9 vs. Georgia and Arizona.