UCLA
Nebraska
Defending NCAA Champions Open 2019 Season Friday
December 31, 2018 | Gymnastics
MEET INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom (13,659)
Time: 6 p.m. PT
Television: ESPN2
TV Talent: Bart Conner, Kathy Johnson-Clarke
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: $20 reserved/$12 general admission (UCLA students are free)
Ticket Promotion: UCLA Faculty/Staff receive 4 free admissions with UCLA ID
Giveaway: Team Poster (2,000), 2018 NCAA Championship Team Card (2,000)
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS BEGIN 2019 SEASON FRIDAY
Defending NCAA champion and preseason No. 1 UCLA will open its 2019 season on Friday, Jan. 4 against No. 11 Nebraska. The meet will take place in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2, with Olympic medalists Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson-Clarke on the call. Fans are encouraged to arrive early and be in their seats by 5:40 p.m. to catch the pre-meet festivities, which include the 2018 NCAA Championship banner unveil. Doors open at 5 p.m.
TICKETS/PROMOTIONS
Tickets for the UCLA-Nebraska meet, as well as season tickets for the Bruins' five-meet home schedule, are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster. UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. The UCLA-Nebraska meet is Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day. All UCLA faculty and staff can receive four free admissions by showing their UCLA ID at the door. Friday's giveaway item is the team poster and a 2018 NCAA Championship team card for the first 2,000 fans. Following the meet, 2018 Bruin graduates, including Christine Peng-Peng Lee and JaNay Honest, will sign autographs on the concourse.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Pauley Pavilion continues to implement a clear bag policy which limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into the arena. One large clear bag, either a one gallon Ziploc style bag or a 12' by 6" by 12" clear bag, or a small clutch may be allowed into the arena. Increased screening through the use of electronic security equipment will be used at all entry gates. For more information, visit uclabruins.com/pauleygamedayinfo.
UCLA IN SEASON OPENERS
UCLA has won five of its last six season openers, including victories in the last four years. In 2018, the Bruins shined on bars and floor in their 196.250-193.200 win over Ohio State. UCLA's Olympic gold medalist duo of Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross led UCLA to a 195.700-195.350 victory over Arkansas in 2017. Kocian won the all-around and three events, and Ross tied for first on bars and placed third on vault. Hallie Mossett clinched the Bruin victory with a 9.8 on floor on the final routine. In 2016, it was Sadiqua Bynum who clinched the win on the final routine, as her 9.95 on floor sealed a come-from-behind 196.550-196.300 victory over Alabama. In 2015, clutch beam routines by Mikaela Gerber and Christine Peng-Peng Lee in the final rotation sealed the win at Oregon State, 196.000-195.450.
FAREWELL SEASON BEGINS
The 2019 season will be the swan song for legendary head coach Valorie Kondos Field, who will retire from coaching at the conclusion of the season. Kondos Field has led UCLA to all seven of its NCAA Championships, along with 14 conference and 19 NCAA Regional championships. She enters her 29th and final season with a career record of 516-120-3. In 2010, Kondos Field became just the second active coach ever inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame, and she was also named the Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century and was selected by her peers as the National Coach of the Year four times in her career. Kondos Field recently wrote her first book, Life is Short, Don't Wait to Dance, which is available in bookstores nationwide, as well as digitally. Through personal stories and anecdotes, she shares insights and advice on how to use uniqueness and authenticity to achieve success.
PRESEASON RANKING
UCLA begins the season ranked No. 1 in the national preseason coaches poll and was also selected by the Pac-12 coaches to win the conference. The Bruins are set to face nine teams in the preseason Top 36, including No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 5 Utah on the road, No. 8 California in Anaheim and No. 11 Nebraska at home.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
UCLA returns all but four routines from the NCAA Championships and has five All-Americans on the roster - 2018 NCAA floor champion Katelyn Ohashi, 2017 NCAA bars and beam champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross, 2016 Olympic gold and silver medalist Madison Kocian, Felicia Hano and Grace Glenn. The Bruins lose 10.0-caliber routines from Christine Peng-Peng Lee on bars and beam, consistent high marks from Napualani Hall on vault and JaNay Honest on bars, and all-around potential from Sonya Meraz but bring in national team freshmen Margzetta Frazier and Norah Flatley and three-time JO National vault champion Sekai Wright.
UCLA's strength lies in its depth. The Bruins have 20 gymnasts on the roster, including 10 who competed in at least 10 meets last season - Nia Dennis, Anna Glenn, Grace Glenn, Hano, Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Brielle Nguyen, Ohashi, Ross and Pauline Tratz. UCLA finished the 2018 regular season ranked in the Top 4 in the nation on all four events - No. 1 on floor, No. 2 on beam and No. 4 on vault and bars.
BRUINS DAZZLE IN SEASON PREVIEW
UCLA showed off its new routines and dazzled the Bruin fans with two perfect scores in the annual Meet the Bruins Paw-liday Party on Dec. 9. The Blue and White teams finished in a dead heat, each totaling 118.250 points in the three-up, three-count intrasquad. The Bruins showed off five 10.0 start value vaults, with Nia Dennis earning high marks with a 9.975. Kyla Ross' perfect 10 was the highlight on uneven bars, and Anna Glenn and Brielle Nguyen each scored 9.9 on the balance beam. The Bruins closed the event with four scores of 9.9 or higher on floor, including Dennis' perfect 10 and Felicia Hano's 9.95 that gave the teams the tie.
OHASHI TO DEBUT HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED NEW FLOOR ROUTINE
They say it's always hard to follow up a masterpiece, but Katelyn Ohashi is ready to follow up her NCAA championship-winning Michael Jackson routine that went viral with over 90 million views. The senior will debut her brand-new routine at the season opener on Jan. 4. Ohashi scored three perfect 10s with her 2018 routine, finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation and swept through the postseason as the Pac-12, NCAA Columbus Regional and NCAA floor champion.
28 STRAIGHT
UCLA enters the 2019 season having outscored 28 straight opponents over its last eight meets. The Bruins lost just two meets last season by a total of .225 points (.1 loss to Oklahoma Feb. 4, .125 loss to Utah Feb. 18).
MORE STREAKS
UCLA has scored 49+ in 59 straight rotations, the team's last sub-49 score coming in the first rotation of the 2018 season opener โฆ The Bruins scored 49.5 or better on 20 of those 59 rotations โฆ UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 28 meets (13 in a row with 49.4 or higher) and 49+ on floor in its last 22 meets.
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS
Nebraska returns three All-Americans (seniors Sienna Crouse and Megan Schweihofer and junior Taylor Houchin) and 11 letterwinners from last season's squad that finished sixth at the NCAA Championships with a score of 196.800. The Huskers are ranked No. 11 in the preseason poll and are coached by interim head coach Heather Brink, a former NCAA all-around champion for Nebraska. UCLA won all three match-ups against Nebraska last season, placing first at the Masters Classic (197.500-197.500), NCAA semifinals (197.5625-197.0125) and NCAA finals (198.075-196.8000). The Bruins have a 13-6 regular season record against the Huskers, who last beat the Bruins in the regular season at the 2009 Masters Classic.
A LOOK BACK AT 2018
UCLA turned in a performance for the ages at the 2018 NCAA Super Six Team Final, using a NCAA Championship and school record balance beam score of 49.750 in the final rotiation to come from behind to win its seventh NCAA team title. The Bruins trailed two-time defending champion Oklahoma by .325 at the halfway mark but rallied with huge marks on uneven bars (49.6375, the second-highest bars total in NCAA Championship history) to cut the deficit to .175 going into the final rotation. While Oklahoma was totaling 49.5375 on uneven bars to pad its lead, the Bruins had an uphill battle to climb after a fall in the two spot following Grace Glenn's 9.9375 leadoff balance beam mark. But rather than sinking under the pressure, UCLA thrived. Brielle Nguyen, in her only routine of the night, followed the fall with a 9.875. Katelyn Ohashi answered with a 9.95, and Kyla Ross contributed a 9.9875, earning four of six perfect scores. It all came down to Christine Peng-Peng Lee in the final routine of the night. Although she and most of her teammates did not know at the time, Lee needed to score 9.975 on her final collegiate routine to clinch the victory. She did one better, scoring her second perfect 10 in as many routines that night to claim the title for the Bruins.
NO. 1 IN SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS
UCLA Gymnastics has the largest social media followings in all of women's collegiate sports, ranking No. 1 across all women's sports in combined followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a total over 415,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on both Instagram (233k) and Facebook (156k) and second on Twitter (28.4k). Among all UCLA teams, gymnastics ranks first on Instagram and Facebook, and UCLA Gymnastics is the most followed collegiate women's team Instagram account in the nation. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.
STAY CONNECTED
Download the UCLA Bruins Mobile App to your device, free of charge, to stay up-to-date on all things UCLA Athletics. The official app of UCLA Athletics allows fans to receive in-game stats and live updates during events. Fans can also sign up to receive push notifications about gameday promotions, game times, results and more; shop for UCLA gear with one click; and get breaking news from UCLA Athletics. When searching iTunes or Google Play, use the term "UCLA Bruins" for more direct access.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete in a podium quad meet at the Collegiate Challenge powered by Under Armour on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 6pm at the Anaheim Arena. Also competing in the meet will be No. 8 California, UC Davis and Michigan State. Advance tickets are on sale at cacollegiatechallenge.com. UCLA fans can use the code: cachallenge30 for 30% off tickets. The discount offer is good until Jan. 9. The Collegiate Challenge will also feature a pre-meet FanFest for ticket holders, including a music stage, food trucks, games and activities at the Anaheim Arena Plaza.
Players Mentioned
