Saturday, Feb. 28 - 12pm MT, Wells Fargo Arena
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson, Carly Patterson)
Live Stats - thesundevils.com
Dual in the Desert
No. 10 UCLA (8-1) travels to Tempe this weekend to face Arizona State (1-9) on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 12pm MT/11am PT. The dual meet will take place at Wells Fargo Arena and will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks, with Jim Watson and Olympic gold medalist Carly Patterson on the call.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at thesundevils.com. Live updates can be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics.
In the Rankings
UCLA is ranked No. 10 in the nation with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 196.315. RQS is determined by taking the top six scores, three of which must be on the road, dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five marks. The Bruins are ranked No. 7 on vault (49.295), No. 22 on bars (48.875), No. 14 on beam (48.945) and No. 13 on floor (49.130). Only two Bruin gymnasts are ranked this week - Samantha Peszek, who is No. 14 on vault and No. 13 on bars, and Sadiqua Bynum, who is No. 24 on floor.
About the Sun Devils
Arizona State enters the week ranked 44th in the nation with a RQS of 194.000. The Sun Devils have a season-high score of 195.375, set Feb. 16 at Arizona. ASU is coached by René Lyst, who is in her first season in Tempe. Lyst was previously co-head coach at Arkansas for 13 seasons.
UCLA is 55-23 all-time against Arizona State and has not lost to the Sun Devils since Jan. 26, 2001 in Tempe, a streak of 27 consecutive wins. The Bruins won both meetings last year, winning a dual meet in Los Angeles and then placing ahead of ASU at the Pac-12 Championship.
Homecoming for Cipra
Sophomore Angi Cipra will be making a hometown visit this weekend when the Bruins travel to Tempe. Cipra is from Mesa, Arizona and trained at Desert Devils Gymnastics. Cipra, who graduated from Saguaro High School, swept the all-around and all four events at the 2012 Level 10 State Championships and went on to win the national floor exercise title that year. Cipra has competed on vault and floor in six of the Bruins' seven meets and has season-highs of 9.875 on vault and 9.9 on floor.
Bruins Win Quad Meet with Another 197
UCLA used six scores of 9.95 or better and a spectacular balance beam rotation that scored 49.525 to place first in a quad meet against No. 7 Nebraska (196.650), Sacramento State (194.150) and Bridgeport (192.575). The 7.264 fans in Pauley Pavilion were treated to all-star performances from Christine Peng-Peng Lee, who scored 9.95 to win bars and 9.975 to win beam; Samantha Peszek, who won the all-around with a 39.625 and earned three scores of 9.9 or higher; Jordan Williams, who won vault with a career-high 9.95; and Danusia Francis, who scored 9.9 or better on all three events in which she competed, including 9.95s on beam and floor.
Peszek, Lee Honored by Pac-12
Redshirt senior Samantha Peszek and redshirt sophomore Christine Peng-Peng Lee earned weekly honors from the Pac-12 Conference after helping to lead UCLA to a quad meet victory over Nebraska, Sacramento State and Bridgeport. Peszek earned Gymnast of the Week honors for the second time this year after winning the all-around and tying her season-high with a score of 39.625. Lee received Freshman/Newcomer of the Week acclaim for the first time after scoring career-bests of 9.95 on bars and 9.975 on beam.
Exhibition Performers Shine
The Bruin bench is deep, and several Bruins who performed exhibition routines last weekend made strong cases for themselves to be included in the competition lineup. Christine Peng-Peng Lee scored 9.925 on vault, which would have put her in second place in the meet if her score had counted. Rechelle Dennis made her UCLA debut on bars in an exhibition and scored 9.825, which would have tied for fifth place. Hallie Mossett's 9.85 on beam and Napualani Hall's 9.875 on floor also would have been good for fifth place on those events.
Bruins are Beaming
UCLA recorded a 49.525 on beam last weekend, earning the eighth-highest beam score in school history. Only two other UCLA teams in the 2010s have scored higher on beam - the 2010 team, which scored 49.65 at Georgia, and the 2012 team, which scored 49.55 at California. The Bruins earned their 49.525 with six strong routines. Mikaela Gerber led off with a 9.8, followed by a 9.775 from Sonya Meraz. Sophina DeJesus scored 9.85, and then the back half of the lineup went stratospheric, with Danusia Francis scoring 9.95, Christine Peng-Peng Lee 9.975, and Samantha Peszek 9.95.
Raising the Bar on Floor
UCLA is raising the bar on floor exercise, with many of the competitors now performing E tumbling passes. Both Jennifer Pinches and Hallie Mossett inserted new full-in opening passes vs. Washington earlier in the month, joining Angi Cipra (full-in), Napualani Hall (Arabian double front), Sadiqua Bynum and Samantha Peszek (double layout), who have had their E passes in their routines since the start of the season. The Bruins scored a season-high 49.45 on floor at Stanford on Feb. 14 and have scored 49+ in six straight meets.
Williams Vaults Ahead
Graduate student Jordan Williams has scored career-highs of 9.95 on vault in two of her last three meets, first against Washington on Feb. 9 and again on Feb. 21 in the Bruins' quad meet. Williams, who came to Westwood from Arizona and is UCLA's first-ever graduate transfer, has averaged 9.871 on vault, with two victories and two second-place showings in seven meets. She also made her beam debut at Stanford and scored 9.75.
Francis. Danusia Francis
Week after week, junior Danusia Francis has been posting big scores for the Bruins. She has nine scores of 9.9 or higher, including three in UCLA's last meet, where she earned 9.95s on beam and floor and a 9.9 as the leadoff on bars. Francis picked up her second floor victory of the season at last week's quad meet with her James Bond-themed routine, scoring her first-ever 9.95 on that event. On the year, Francis has recorded two event wins each on beam and floor, and she has scored 9.8 or better on 17 consecutive routines.
Bynum Doubles Down on Vault, Floor
Junior Sadiqua Bynum has been delivering big scores all season on vault and floor, averaging 9.863 on vault and a team-best 9.875 on floor. Bynum is ranked 24th in the nation on floor and She has scored career-bests of 9.925 on floor in four consecutive meets and has three event wins on floor. Bynum has scored 9.85 or better on 10 of her 12 routines this year.
Peszek Power
Fifth-year senior Samantha Peszek has been lights out this season, averaging 39.6 in three all-around performances and scoring 9.85 or better on 20 of 22 routines competed. Her only missed routine 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 all three times she has competed all-around, scoring 39.55 to win at Oregon State and 39.625 to win at Utah and in the home quad meet. She has a team-high total of 11 victories out of a possible 25 and has placed in the Top 3 22 of 25 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 earned Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week honors this week after winning bars and beam with scores of 9.95 and 9.975, respectively, and exhibitioning a vault that scored 9.925. Lee has totaled seven event wins this season, including four in six 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.
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. She was even better at Stanford, scoring career-highs on all three events in which she competed, earning 9.85s on bars and beam and 9.9 on floor. Meraz is averaging 9.794 on beam.
Gerber Enjoying Breakout Season
Sophomore Mikaela Gerber has enjoyed a breakout season so far, with strong and consistent routines in each of her seven meets. She hit her first 10 routines of the year and has scored career-bests of 9.8 four times on beam, where she has been the all-important leadoff performer. She is also averaging 9.8 on floor and earned a career-high 9.85 in her last performance at Stanford.
Walk-On Freshmen Impress
Walk-on freshmen Sonya Meraz, LaNiesha-Jopré Irvin and JaNay Honest have impressed this season. Meraz won the all-around vs. Washington and scored career-highs on all three events she competed at Stanford, including her first career 9.9, on floor. She has season-highs of 9.9 on floor, 9.85 on bars and beam and 9.8 on vault. Irvin has stuck three of her four vaults she has competed this season and holds a season average of 9.814. She has Top 3 finishes in three of her four meets and a high of 9.9, set at Utah. Honest has competed on vault in every meet and is averaging 9.814, with a high of 9.85 set at Stanford. She also competed on bars and exhibitioned on floor at Stanford, scoring 9.775 on bars and 9.75 on floor.
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 show will feature graduate student Jordan Williams.
Looking Ahead
UCLA will host its final home meet of the season on Saturday, Mar. 7 against Stanford. The Bruins will be honoring seniors Samantha Peszek, Jordan Williams and Ellette Craddock in post-meet festivities. UCLA Gymnastics alumni will also be honored before the meet.