University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Upset By Southern Utah, 194.75-194.425
January 14, 2011 | Gymnastics
Jan. 14, 2011
With an experimental lineup that had 11 routines being competed for the first time this season, fifth-ranked UCLA faltered on two events and suffered a 194.75-194.425 loss at 23rd-ranked Southern Utah on Friday.
Freshman Olivia Courtney made a big statement in her first collegiate all-around turn, winning with a score of 39.3. Courtney also won the vault with a career-high 9.9 and the beam with a 9.875 on her first collegiate routine ever on the event. Also making a stunning season debut was senior Talia Kushynski, who scored a team-best 9.8 on floor in her first competitive routine of the year. Freshman Sydney Sawa made a case for inclusion in the beam lineup with a 9.825 on her first beam routine of the year.
The Bruins also tried out a new lineup on beam, the event on which the team had problems in their first two meets. Junior Aisha Gerber took command of the leadoff spot and scored 9.775, leading the way to a season-high team total of 49.1. Competing in her usual No. 2 slot, senior Niki Tom contributed a 9.825. Sophomore Lichelle Wong followed with a 9.8, and Courtney's 9.875 and Sawa's 9.825 gave UCLA five 9.775+ scores and its strongest beam performance of the season. The Bruins' beam performance also gave the team a chance to come back from a .525 deficit going into the last rotation, but 9.7+ scores from Southern Utah's last two floor performers sealed the Thunderbirds' win.
UCLA got into a hole early after two falls on bars in rotation one. Gerber earned the meet's highest bars score with a season-best 9.875. Wong competed on bars for the first time this year, and hit 9.775 with her new dismount, a double front-half. Courtney added a career-best 9.775, but the team was only able to score 48.25 after counting a fall. Meanwhile, Southern Utah scored 48.825 on vault to take the lead after the first rotation.
The Bruins took over the lead by .15 after rotation two, scoring 49.125 on vault to Southern Utah's 48.4 on bars. UCLA's last four vaulters scored 9.8 or better, with Gerber earning 9.825 on her first vault of the year, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs scoring 9.8, Tauny Frattone earning 9.825, and Courtney leading the way with a meet-best 9.9.
UCLA could not keep its lead, however, after the third rotation, counting a fall on floor exercise and recording a team score of 47.95. Kushynski provided the team's highlight with a 9.8, and Courtney and Frattone recorded marks of 9.75 each. Southern Utah's 48.625 on beam gave the Thunderbirds a 145.85-145.325 lead going into the last rotation.
"As a whole overall I was disappointed in the team's performance," said UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field. "We need to train and warm up with more consistency and with more purpose."
"It was nice, though, to see Aisha in the all-around again, and to see Lichelle come out and hit her new dismount on bars," she continued. "Talia trained really hard for floor and it showed in her performance tonight. It was also great to see our freshmen come in and compete well on beam."
UCLA strayed from its main lineup in order to get most of its roster some competitive experience. An ankle injury during warmups to Monique De La Torre further mixed up the lineup when the coaching staff pulled De La Torre from the all-around for precautionary reasons. The Bruins also suffered two other injuries during the meet. Junior Kaelie Baer tweaked her elbow during the three-minute touch warmup on vault and was pulled from doing an exhibition on the event, and senior Mizuki Sato injured her knee on her balance beam dismount in the final rotation. Her status will be evaluated when the Bruins return to Los Angeles.
"The rationale behind our lineup was to see who could go out there and score well and to see who we can count on to hit their routines," explained Kondos Field. "We got a lot of information on who our top six and seven are moving forward."
UCLA returns to competition on Sunday, Jan. 22 at Stanford.
