Saturday, Feb. 14 - 4pm PT, Maples Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Brian Webber, Amanda Borden)
Live Stats - uclabruins.com
UCLA at Stanford Saturday
No. 13 UCLA (4-1) competes for the second time in five days, traveling to No. 16 Stanford ( 4-4-1) for a Valentine's Day showdown at Maples Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 4pm. The meet will be televised live on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Bay Area. Admission to the event is free.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at gostanford.com. Live updates can be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics.
In the Rankings
UCLA's 197.000 score in its Monday meet did not count towards this week's rankings, so the team is ranked No. 13 with an average of 195.875. With the Monday score included, the Bruins would be ranked No. 8 with a 196.100 average. On the event rankings, the Bruins are tied for eighth on vault, 23rd on bars, 11th on beam and 15th on floor. Stanford ranks 16th overall, 14th on vault, 20th on bars, sixth on beam and 34th on floor.
Individually, Samantha Peszek ranks No. 1 in the nation on beam (9.917 average prior to Monday) and No. 2 in the nation in the all-around (39.588). She also ranks fifth on bars (9.906), 11th on vault (9.908) and 18th on floor (9.875).
About the Cardinal
Stanford was unable to overcome a rough start on uneven bars in a 195.575-195.325 loss at California on Sunday. However, the Cardinal posted individual victories by Kristina Vaculik on vault and Samantha Shapriro on bars. Stanford's season high is 197.000, set in a win over Oregon State on Jan. 26. Freshman Elizabeth Price ranks fourth in the nation on vault with a 9.931 and scored a perfect 10 on Jan. 26.
The Series with Stanford
UCLA holds a 48-16-1 overall regular season record against Stanford and split the season series last year, winning 196.900-196.250 in a home dual meet and finishing behind the Cardinal at the Pac-12 Championships.
Bruins Break 197 in Win over Washington
For the second consecutive week, UCLA posted a season-high score, this time breaking 197 in a 197.000-194.500 win over Washington on Monday night. Freshman Sonya Meraz won the all-around in her all-around debut, scoring 39.025, and UCLA had four different winners on individual events. Jordan Williams won vault with a career-high 9.95, Sophina DeJesus captured bars with a season-high 9.9, Danusia Francis tied her season-high to win beam with a 9.925, and Sadiqua Bynum also tied her season-best with a 9.925 to win floor.
Raising the Bar on Floor
UCLA is raising the bar on floor exercise, with four of the six competitors against Washington performing E tumbling passes. Both Jennifer Pinches and Hallie Mossett inserted new full-in opening passes, joining Angi Cipra (full-in) and Sadiqua Bynum (double layout), who have been performing their E passes all season. Also with E passes are Samantha Peszek (double layout) and Napualani Hall (Arabian double front), who have each competed twice this season.
Meraz Moves into All-Around
Freshman walk-on Sonya Meraz became just the second Bruin this season to make it into the lineup as an all-arounder, and in her all-around debut vs. Washington, she won the meet with a score of 39.025. Meraz was not originally scheduled to compete on all four events but was inserted into the vault lineup just before competition began and scored a 9.8 on her first collegiate vault. She also earned scores of 9.6 on bars and 9.75 on beam and capped her night with a career-high 9.875 on floor. Meraz leads the team in season average on beam, averaging 9.775 on two counting routines. Even including her three exhibition performances, her average is still tops on the team at 9.770.
Bynum Doubles Down on Floor
Junior Sadiqua Bynum has been delivering big scores all season on vault and floor, averaging 9.869 on vault and 9.85 on floor to rank second for season average on each event. She has scored career-bests of 9.925 on floor to place first on the event in each of her last two meets, and she also earned a season-high 9.9 on vault. She has scored 9.9 or better on three-straight routines and 9.85 or better on six-straight.
Williams Vaults Ahead
Graduate student Jordan Williams recorded a career-high 9.95 on vault against Washington to capture her first victory as a Bruin. Williams, who came to Westwood from Arizona and is UCLA's first-ever graduate transfer, has averaged 9.855 on vault, competing in all five meets. She performed an exhibition on beam against the Huskies as well, scoring 9.625.
Peszek Power
Fifth-year senior Samantha Peszek has been lights out this season, averaging 39.588 in two all-around performances and scoring 9.85 or better on 14 of 15 routines competed. Her only miss was a rare beam miscue against Washington that snapped a streak of 21 consecutive hit beam routines and 52 straight hit routines in team competition. Peszek, the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for Jan. 26, has won both times she has competed all-around, scoring 39.55 to win at Oregon State and 39.625 to win at Utah. She has a total of nine victories out of a possible 17 and has placed in the Top 3 16 of 17 times.
Lee Makes Long-Awaited Return
Nearly three years after her last competition, redshirt sophomore Christine Peng-Peng Lee made her highly-anticipated collegiate debut at Oregon State on Jan. 12. Lee showed zero signs of rust, winning two events and placing fourth in another. She stuck every dismount and hit every skill in her difficult routines, scoring 9.9 to win bars, 9.825 on a stuck Yurchenko full vault, and 9.875 to tie for first on beam. Against Cal on Feb. 1, she won both events in which she competed, scoring 9.95s on bars and beam, and was subsequently named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week. She has totaled five event wins this season, including three in five meets on bars. Lee tore ligaments in her knee in 2012 just before the Canadian National Championships and had two surgeries, one in 2012 and another in 2013.
Gerber Enjoying Breakout Season
Sophomore Mikaela Gerber has enjoyed a breakout season so far, with strong and consistent routines in each of her five meets. She has scored 9.8 on beam in three of five meets, including twice in the leadoff position. She is averaging 9.760 on the event, second-best on the team. She averages 9.788 on floor, where she has scored 9.825 twice.
Francis. Danusia Francis
Week after week, junior Danusia Francis has been posting career or season highs. On week two against Arizona, she scored a career-high 9.925 on floor with her James Bond-themed routine to secure her first-ever floor victory. Francis had a strong meet overall against Arizona, scoring 9.925 on beam and 9.775 on bars. Against Cal, she earned a career-best 9.925 on bars and added a pair of 9.85s on beam and floor. On Monday versus Washington, she tied her season high on beam with a 9.925 to place first and added a 9.9 on floor.
Walk-On Freshmen Impress
Walk-on freshmen Sonya Meraz, LaNiesha-Jopré Irvin and JaNay Honest have impressed this season with consistent performances. Meraz won the all-around in UCLA's last meet and scored a career-best 9.875 on floor to place third. She holds UCLA's highest season average on beam with a 9.775 and has season-highs of 9.875 on floor, 9.8 on vault and beam and 9.775 on bars. Irvin has stuck each of her three vaults she has performed this season and holds UCLA's third-best scoring average on the event with a 9.867. She has Top 3 finishes in each of her three meets and a high of 9.9, set at Utah. Honest has competed on vault in every meet and is averaging 9.805. She holds season-high marks of 9.825 on vault and bars
Honoring Bruin Greats with Legacy Routines
This season, several of UCLA's memorable floor exercise routines are coming back to life via current team members as they pay tribute to legacy of UCLA Gymnastics. Among these “legacy routines” are those done by Sadiqua Bynum, who asked to perform to Onnie Willis' sophomore year music, and Jennifer Pinches, who is recreating Lena Degteva's West Side Story routine. Freshman Sonya Meraz also has a routine previously done by Degteva, a 13-time All-American from 1997-2000. Willis, a 16-time All-American from 2000-03, was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame this year.
Bruins Performing Skills Named After Bruins
Another way in which UCLA Gymnastics greats are being honored is through skills being performed that bear their names. Christine Peng-Peng Lee performs two high-risk moves that are named after Bruins - the Homma Flairs on beam (named after Leah Homma, who captained UCLA's first-ever NCAA Championship team in 1997) and the Bhardwaj on uneven bars (named after Mohini Bhardwaj, who won four NCAA titles from 1998-2001). Additionally, Danusia Francis performs a Maloney on uneven bars (named after Kristen Maloney, who won five NCAA titles from 2001-05).
Bruin Banter
Samantha Peszek is back hosting her third season of Bruin Banter, a weekly web series that offers an inside look at UCLA Gymnastics. Each week, Peszek, who co-produces the show alongside team videographer Deanna Hong, interviews a team member and recaps the previous week's activities. New this season is a behind-the-scenes segment that provides a glimpse at the inner workings of the team. This week's episode features an interview with Sonya Meraz and a look at “A Day in the Life” of Napualani Hall.
Pac-12 Championships Move to Utah
Due to possible scheduling conflicts with preliminary rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships on Mar. 21 will be moved to Salt Lake City for the second time in four years. Utah hosted the Championships in 2012, and UCLA took home the title thanks to a final rotation rally on balance beam that pushed the Bruins into first place ahead of the second-place Utes, 197.425-197.375.
Bruins on TV
Saturday's meet at Stanford is the sixth of six-straight televised meets for UCLA. Also televised live will be the Bruins' dual meet at Arizona State on Feb. 28 and the Pac-12 Championships on Mar. 21 at Utah. UCLA's seven regular season televised meets are the most among the Pac-12 schools and represent over a third of the Networks' 20 regular season gymnastics broadcasts. In addition, the Pac-12 Networks will televise each session of the Pac-12 Championships. To see if your television provider has Pac-12 Networks, visit pac-12.com/channel-finder.
Looking Ahead
UCLA returns home to host seventh-ranked Nebraska, Sacramento State and Bridgeport on Saturday, Feb. 21at 4pm in the team's annual pink meet.