#5 UCLA vs. #7 Utah
Saturday, Feb. 6 - 1:00 pm
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson, Amanda Borden)
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
UCLA Back in Pauley for Super Beam Saturday
No. 5 UCLA (2-2, 1-1 in the Pac-12) returns home to take on No. 7 Utah (4-0, 2-0) on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 1pm in Pauley Pavilion. The meet, which takes place on Super Bowl weekend, is being dubbed Super Beam Saturday and will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Fans attending the meet are encouraged to arrive early by 12:30pm in order to catch the pre-meet show, which this week includes a surprise performance. Competition begins promptly at 1pm.
UCLA, Utah Clash in Battle of Pac-12 Powers
UCLA and Utah are the Pride of the Pac, having won a combined 15 NCAA titles (nine for Utah and six for UCLA) and 18 Pac-12 Championships (16 for UCLA and two for Utah, who joined the conference in 2012). The Bruins and Utes have won three of the last four Pac-12 titles (Utah in 2014 and 2015, UCLA in 2012).
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at uclabruins.com. Live updates can also be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics.
Tickets and Promotions
Tickets for the UCLA-Utah meet are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office. Season tickets are also available for the Bruins' super-sized six-meet home schedule. Single-meet tickets are on sale at the UCLA Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster for as low as $8. The first 500 fans in Bruin Blue will receive a UCLA Gymnastics team card.
UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. This week's prize is a TV, just in time for a Super Bowl party. Additionally, Saturday's meet is a GolDen Game, and the first 100 UCLA students in attendance will receive donuts.
In the Rankings
With both UCLA and Utah competing last Monday, those results did not factor in this week's national rankings. The Bruins dipped one spot to No. 5 after Alabama posted a big score in its Friday night meet. The Bruins remain ranked No. 1 on floor and moved up to fourth on beam, 10th on vault and dropped one spot to 11th on bars.
Individually, Danusia Francis continues to lead the nation on beam for the fourth consecutive week, averaging 9.917. Sadiqua Bynum leads three Bruins in the Top 12 on floor, ranking fifth, while Hallie Mossett is 10th and Angi Cipra is 12th. Napualani Hall moved up one spot to 20th on vault.
UCLA vs. Utah - The Matchup
Utah leads the all-time regular season series between the two schools, 26-8, and have a 50-25-1 overall advantage. The Utes won both matchups in Salt Lake City a year ago, winning the Pac-12 Championships and a January dual meet, 196.725-194.725. The story has been a little different in Pauley Pavilion in recent years, however, as UCLA has won four straight in its home arena, most recently at the 2013 NCAA Championship. The last time the two teams met in Pauley Pavilion for a dual meet was in 2013, and the Bruins came away with a 197.425-195.300 victory.
The Utes are coming off a season-best performance on Monday against Arizona in which they scored 197.150, led by a 49.625 on floor. Breanna Hughes won the all-around in her first career try with a score of 39.525, and Samantha Partyka nearly scored a 10 with a 9.975 on floor. As a team, Utah ranks seventh overall, third on bars, fifth on beam and eighth on vault.
Last Time Out
Fifth-ranked UCLA struggled to maintain momentum through the last of a three-meet road stretch, scoring 195.175 in a dual meet loss at 21st-ranked California on Monday. The Golden Bears won the meet with a season-best 196.375. Highlights for the Bruins included JaNay Honest's first career victory and career-best score of 9.875 on uneven bars, Christine Peng-Peng Lee winning vault with a 9.875 in her season debut, Mikaela Gerber hitting a strong routine as a last-minute sub on floor exercise, and Danusia Francis' meet-winning beam routine that scored 9.925.
Ohashi Out with Small Fracture
Freshman standout Katelyn Ohashi will not compete this week and is out until asymptomatic after suffering a small fracture of her sternum. Ohashi had a hard fall caused by an equipment malfunction, landing on her upper back after the cap of the balance beam came off while she was dismounting. She was examined by Arizona medical staff and UCLA's Athletic Training Staff and cleared to resume competition. Upon return to Los Angeles, she was re-evaluated by UCLA physicians, who cleared her for activity. She also had an x-ray, which came back negative. Last Wednesday at practice, pain in her sternum developed, and a CT scan on Friday afternoon found a small fracture. Ohashi had competed in all but one event prior to this week and has twice earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors, with highs of 9.925 on bars, 9.85 on floor, 9.825 on beam and 9.775 on vault.
High Marks
After four meets, UCLA has posted five 9.95 scores this season - Danusia Francis twice on beam, Christine Peng-Peng Lee once on beam and Hallie Mossett and Sadiqua Bynum once on floor. Mossett's 9.95 was the first 9.95+ score of her career, and Bynum's was her second. Lee now has eight (3 on bars, 5 on beam), and Francis has 11 (10 on beam, 1 on floor). The Bruins have also tallied 16 scores of 9.9 or higher this year.
Bruin Debuts
The last two meets have provided the Bruins opportunity to get new faces in the lineup. At Cal on Monday, Christine Peng-Peng Lee made her season debut on vault and showed no signs of rust, sticking her Yurchenko full for a first-place 9.875 score. Mikaela Gerber came in on floor exercise as a last-minute sub and hit her routine for a 9.8. Also making their season competitive debuts were Stella Savvidou on bars and Angi Cipra on beam. At Arizona the week prior, Savvidou's first-ever Bruin routine, an exhibition on bars, resulted in a 9.75 score. Freshman Nicki Shapiro also made her Bruin debut with an exhibition beam performance that scored 9.725. Sonya Meraz and Madison Preston competed on floor at Arizona for the first time this season and scored 9.8 and 9.875, respectively.
Bluetooth Fading
For the first two weeks of the season, Christine Peng-Peng Lee had been performing a hands-free beam routine due to thumb surgery in November for a torn ligament. She brought back her Homma Flairs mount on Jan. 23 at Arizona, marking the first step in her return to full usage of her hands, and returned to vault on Feb. 1 at Cal. Her progress continues this week, as she plans to replace the aerial in her aerial/back layout series with a backhandspring.
Vault Changes
With the Yurchenko layout full and Yurchenko layout half vaults being devalued to 9.95 start values, several Bruins have been working on new vaults in 2016 to maintain a 10.0 start value. Two Bruins have competed 10.0 vaults in their four meets. Napualani Hall has scored career-highs of 9.9 on stuck Yurchenko 1.5s twice, and Sadiqua Bynum scored a season-high 9.875 on her Yurchenko Arabian at Arizona. Christine Peng-Peng Lee has UCLA's highest score on a Yurchenko layout full with a had UCLA's top score on vault in the season opener with a 9.875 at Cal.
Notables
Danusia Francis has hit 46 routines in a row without a fall, with 43 of those routines scoring 9.8 or above … Sadiqua Bynum hit all 23 routines in 2015 and has hit 38 in a row since 2014 … Sophina DeJesus has scored 9.8 or higher on 13 of her last 14 beam routines … JaNay Honest had a streak of 10-straight 9.8+ vaults snapped with a 9.775 at Arizona, but she has scored career-highs on bars in her last three meets, most recently a 9.875 at Cal to win the meet … Sonya Meraz is a perfect 14-for-14 on beam in her career, with nine of those routines scoring 9.8 or higher … Hallie Mossett choreographed the floor exercise routines for JaNay Honest, Napualani Hall and Rechelle Dennis and helped head coach Valorie Kondos Field choreograph others on the team, including her own. Mossett, week one's Pac-12 Specialist of the Week, currently ranks 10th in the nation on floor exercise.
UCLA Dominates Pac-12 All-Century Team
UCLA Gymnastics dominated the Pac-12 All-Century Team, with 12 Bruins selected to the 16-gymnast roster, in addition to current head coach Valorie Kondos Field being named Coach of the Century and two-time NCAA all-around champion Tasha Schwikert being selected the Gymnast of the Century.
Also selected to the All-Century team from UCLA were Jill Andrews (balance beam), Mohini Bhardwaj (all-around, uneven bars, floor exercise), Jamie Dantzscher (floor exercise, all-around), Kim Hamilton (floor exercise), Kristen Maloney (vault), Heidi Moneymaker (vault), Samantha Peszek (balance beam, all-around), Kate Richardson (floor exercise), Schwikert (all-around), Sharon Shapiro (all-around), Stella Umeh (floor exercise) and Vanessa Zamarripa (vault).
Francis Hosts Bruin Banter
Senior Danusia Francis has taken over hosting duties from Samantha Peszek in the weekly gymnastics web series Bruin Banter, which can be viewed every Thursday on uclabruins.com. This week's guests will be Mikaela Gerber and JaNay Honest.
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics ranks first among all NCAA gymnastics teams in Instagram followers (36k) and Facebook likes (78k+) and ranks eighth in Twitter followers (8k+). The Bruins also have 4500+ followers on Vine. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.
All-Star Staff
UCLA boasts the most star-studded staff in gymnastics with Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century Valorie Kondos Field and two other coaches who competed at the Olympics - Associate Head Coach Chris Waller (1992, U.S.) and Undergraduate Assistant Coach Jennifer Pinches (2012, Great Britain). Additionally, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber is the head team manager.
Looking Ahead
UCLA hosts Oregon State on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 8pm in the team's annual Power of Pink meet to promote Breast Cancer Awareness.