#7 UCLA vs. #16 Oregon State
Saturday, Feb. 13 - 8:00 pm
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Rich Burk, Samantha Peszek)
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
UCLA Hosts Oregon State Saturday Night
No. 7 UCLA (3-2, 2-1 in the Pac-12) faces No. 16 Oregon State (6-2, 2-1) on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 8pm in Pauley Pavilion. The meet will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Doors open at 7:00pm. The pre-meet show begins at 7:45pm and includes a national anthem performance by The Voice Top 5 finalist India Carney. Competition begins promptly at 8pm.
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-Oregon State meet are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster for as low as $8. UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. This week's prize is an Apple Watch.
For Saturday evening's meet, Pauley Pavilion is turning into a pajama party. Fans who wear their favorite pajamas to the meet will receive complimentary admission.
The meet is also UCLA's annual Think Pink meet for breast cancer awareness. The Bruins will celebrate the survivors among us and continue to help raise awareness to find a cure for the opponent that affects everyone: cancer. The team will wear pink-accented leotards and encourage fans who don't wear their pajamas to wear pink to show support (or do both!).
Sophina DeJesus Goes Viral
Senior Sophina DeJesus became a worldwide phenomenom when a video of her floor exercise season debut went viral over the weekend. The video has topped 27 million views with 450,000 shares on Facebook. DeJesus was the top trending topic on Facebook for two days and has been featured on countless news programs and websites around the world, including People Magazine, Time, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Upworthy, Good Morning America, The Today Show, NPR and Cosmo. Celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Ludacris and Ashton Kutcher posted about her routine on social media.
In the Rankings
Despite scoring a season-high 197.100 in its last meet, UCLA dipped two spots to No. 7 in the national rankings. The Bruins also dipped one spot on floor exercise to No. 2 and are down to No. 8 on beam and No. 15 on bars. UCLA remains ranked No. 10 on vault. UCLA has five athletes ranked in the Top 5 on floor - No. 5 Sophina DeJesus, No. 11 Hallie Mossett, No. 12 Angi Cipra, No. 14 Madison Preston and No. 18 Sadiqua Bynum. Danusia Francis' four-week reign as the top-ranked beam worker in the nation comes to an end, as she dropped to No. 4.
UCLA vs. Oregon State - The Matchup
UCLA holds a 49-20-1 advantage over Oregon State in the overall series and won both matchups a year ago. The Beavers' last win in the series came at the 2013 Pac-12 Championships. Oregon State, which is coming off a 195.325-194.275 victory over Washington on Monday, ranks No. 16 nationally. They rank No. 14 on vault, No. 18 on bars and floor and No. 24 on beam.
Bruins vs. Bruins
The Bruins will be facing two of their own on Saturday, as Oregon State is coached by a pair of Bruins. Beaver head coach Tanya (Service) Chaplin was a six-time All-American for the Bruins and a two-time Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. Associate head coach Michael Chaplin won an NCAA title with the UCLA men's gymnastics team in 1987 and was teammates with current UCLA associate head coach Chris Waller. The Chaplins both graduated from UCLA in 1990.
Last Time Out
UCLA came roaring back from a 0.250 deficit in the final rotation with a rousing floor exercise set to defeat Utah by the slimmest of margins, 197.100-197.075. For the second time this season, it was senior Sadiqua Bynum who clinched the victory for the Bruins. Needing a score of 9.925 to tie, she did one better, recording a 9.95 to give fifth-ranked UCLA the win over the seventh-ranked Utes in front of a crowd of 7,546. The Bruins scored a season-best 49.6 on floor, led by Angi Cipra's meet-winning and career-high 9.975, Bynum's 9.95 and season-high 9.925s from Madison Preston and Sophina DeJesus.
Bruins Sweep Pac-12 Weekly Honors
UCLA gymnasts made a clean sweep of the Pac-12 weekly awards, with Sadiqua Bynum winning Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week, Angi Cipra winning Specialist of the Week, and Madison Preston earning Freshman/Newcomer of the Week honors. This marks the first time all three awards have been won by a single school since the Pac-12 started awarding three weekly honors in 2013. Bynum clinched the narrow Bruin win against Utah with a season-high-tying 9.95 on floor on the final routine. Cipra won floor with a career-high 9.975, receiving a 10.0 from one judge. Preston had career-highs on all three events in which she competed, scoring 9.85 on vault to place second, 9.775 on beam in her first routine, and 9.925 on floor to spark UCLA's comeback win.
Singing Bruins
Juniors Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Hallie Mossett and team manager Alex Waller made their vocal debut singing the national anthem at the Bruins' last home meet. On Friday, Feb. 12, they made their live television debut on the Pac-12 Networks, singing the national anthem live prior to UCLA-USC swimming and diving meet. The trio will also take their vocal talents to the UCLA-Oregon men's basketball game on Mar. 2.
High Marks
After five meets, UCLA has posted seven 9.95 scores this season - Danusia Francis twice on beam, Christine Peng-Peng Lee once on beam, Sadiqua Bynum twice on floor, and Hallie Mossett and Angi Cipra once on floor. Mossett's 9.95 was the first 9.95+ score of her career, Cipra's was her second, and Bynum's was her third. 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 22 scores of 9.9 or higher this year.
Notables
Danusia Francis has hit 49 routines in a row without a fall, with 46 of those routines scoring 9.8 or above … Sadiqua Bynum hit all 23 routines in 2015 and has hit 40 in a row since 2014 … Sophina DeJesus has scored 9.8 or higher on 14 of her last 15 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 three of her last four meets, most recently a 9.875 at Cal to win her first career event titel … Sonya Meraz is a perfect 15-for-15 on beam in her career, with 10 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 11th in the nation on floor exercise.
Bruin Debuts
The last three meets have provided the Bruins opportunity to get new faces in the lineup. Sophina DeJesus made her season debut on floor exercise against Utah and proceeded to break the interent with her routine. Also, Madison Preston competed on beam for the first time and scored 9.775. At Cal Feb. 1, 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 continued last week, as she replaced 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 9.875 at Cal.
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).
Ohashi Remains Out with Small Fracture
Freshman standout Katelyn Ohashi remains 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. At practice, pain in her sternum developed, and a CT scan found a small fracture. Ohashi had competed in all but one event prior to the injury 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.
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 guest is Sophina DeJesus.
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics ranks first among all NCAA gymnastics teams in Instagram followers (39.9k) and Facebook likes (80k+) and ranks seventh in Twitter followers (8k+). The Bruins also have 4600+ followers on Vine. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.
Looking Ahead
UCLA travels to Washington for its final regular season road trip, competing on Sunday, Feb. 21.