University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Closes Regular Season With Strong Performance At Fullerton
March 13, 2011 | Gymnastics
March 13, 2011
Fullerton, Calif. - Eighth-ranked UCLA ended the regular season on a high note, recording its highest road score of the season in a 197.05-191.05 win at Cal State Fullerton. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs won the all-around with a 39.5 and earned first-place finishes on vault (career-high tying 9.95) and beam (9.925). Tauny Frattone tied Hopfner-Hibbs for first on vault, also tying her career-high, and winning for the seventh-straight meet. Brittani McCullough captured first-place on floor with a season-high 9.925, and Samantha Peszek won bars with a 9.9.
Due to the absence of one judge, the Bruins had to wait a bit extra before starting competition. After Cal State Fullerton completed vault, the Bruins followed suit and showed no ill-effects from the delay, blasting a season-high 49.575. Peszek scored a career-high 9.875 after a near stick. McCullough followed suit with a huge vault that scored 9.9. Hopfner-Hibbs stuck her vault for a 9.95, Olivia Courtney earned a 9.9, and Frattone stuck her vault for a 9.95.
The Bruins moved immediately to bars and scored 49.05. McCullough and Sydney Sawa led off with scores of 9.775, followed by a 9.85 from Aisha Gerber. Monique De La Torre returned to the lineup after an ankle injury and scored 9.75, covering well after she nearly went over on a handstand early in the routine. Hopfner-Hibbs had some trouble with her dismount and scored 9.75, but Peszek's anchor score of 9.9 picked up the Bruins' score and gave the team a 98.625 mark at the halfway point.
The meet schedule went back to normal when an alternate judge arrived in time for the third rotation. UCLA scored 49.15 on floor exercise. McCullough led the way with her best routine of the season, scoring 9.925. Hopfner-Hibbs scored 9.875, Niki Tom earned a 9.8, and Sawa and Courtney rounded out the counting scores with a 9.775.
The Bruins shifted their lineup a bit on beam, resting Tom and moving usual anchor Hopfner-Hibbs into the No. 2 spot that she occupied during the end of last season. Moving Hopfner-Hibbs up in the lineup proved to be a good move. After Gerber's leadoff score of 9.875, which tied her season-high, Hopfner-Hibbs added a 9.925. Those two high scores energized the team, and Courtney followed with a 9.825. Peszek hit for a 9.8, and Frattone tied her career-high with a 9.85 in the anchor position to give UCLA a 49.275 on beam and 197.05 overall.
"It was great to put together four events," said UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field. "The energy of the team was definitely in the right place and where they need to be in order to hit. We still need to clean up some errors and make some technical changes in a few skills to be able to consistently score in the mid-197s, but I'm overall very pleased with our team's performance. This should give us confidence going into the postseason."
UCLA hosts the Pac-10 Championships on Saturday, Mar. 19 in Pauley Pavilion at 4 pm. Tickets are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office (310-UCLA-WIN) or at Ticketmaster.
