UCLA
California
Bruins Drop Dual Meet to California
February 02, 2016 | Gymnastics
Berkeley, Calif. – 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 at Haas Pavilion on Monday. The Golden Bears (7-2) won the meet with a season-best 196.375. Highlights for the Bruins (2-2) included JaNay Honest's first career victory on uneven bars, Christine Peng-Peng Lee winning vault in her season debut, and Danusia Francis' meet-winning beam routine.
UCLA, which had to adjust lineups several times throughout the night due to illness and injury, was forced to count a fall on both uneven bars in the first rotation and balance beam in the final rotation. The Bruins' uneven bars rotation got off to a great start with three-straight season-high scores. Francis led off with a 9.85, and Hallie Mossett added a 9.825. Honest's meet-winning routine was highlighted by a huge Tkatchev and a stuck full-in dismount, leading to a career-high 9.875. However, the momentum was slowed soon after with two falls, and the Bruins' 48.7 put them behind Cal after the Bears scored 49.225 on vault.
The Bruins got a boost on vault thanks to Lee's return to the vault lineup. Lee stuck her vault and scored 9.875 to tie for first place. Honest led off the rotation with a stellar landing and scored 9.775, and Angi Cipra followed Lee with a stick of her own, scoring 9.85. Sadiqua Bynum added a 9.8, but the Bruins had lower than usual scores from Madison Preston and Napualani Hall, which resulted in a team score of 49.050. Cal stayed ahead of the Bruins by 0.55 after scoring 49.075 on bars.
UCLA gained a little momentum back in rotation three despite big lineup changes on floor exercise. Mikaela Gerber, who did not even take a turn on floor in the pre-meet warmups, was brought in at the last minute for Preston, who had developed a migraine. Sonya Meraz was also inserted into the lineup late for Mossett, who was held out for precautionary reasons after jamming her knee during her uneven bars dismount. Both late subs stepped up with strong routines. After Hall's 9.8 leadoff routine, Gerber, in her first floor exercise routine of the season, hit for a 9.8. Meraz also scored 9.8. Francis scored 9.85, and Cipra followed with a 9.825. Bynum, though, scored her first sub-9.9 floor routine of the season, with a 9.725. UCLA's 49.075 on floor trumped California's 48.925 on beam, cutting the Bears' lead to 0.4 points, 147.225-146.825.
The fourth rotation got off to a great start with Gerber's 9.85 leadoff routine that tied her career-high score, and Cipra looked well on her way to her career-high before she stubbed her toe on her leap combo, causing her to fall midway through her first beam routine in two years. Sophina DeJesus got the pendulum swinging back in the right direction with a season-high-tying 9.85, but Lee fell on her aerial/two-foot layout series, giving UCLA its second sub-9 score of the rotation. Francis closed it out with a stellar first-place routine that scored 9.925, but the Bruins' score of 48.350 was their first sub-49 team score on beam all season.
UCLA returns home to Pauley Pavilion this Saturday for a dual meet against Utah. The meet begins promptly at 1:00 pm. Doors open at Noon, and pre-meet festivities begin at 12:45 pm. Tickets are on sale now at uclabruins.com/tickets.
Players Mentioned
