No. 2 Baylor acrobatics & tumbling (7-1) took No. 7 Gannon University (3-5) on Thursday afternoon at Felix Event Center to advance to the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) national semifinals.
The Bears got off to a hot start in the compulsories, winning 38.75-36.30. After narrowly winning the acro event 29.25-29.05, and winning the pyramid event 28.90-27.50, the Bears took a 96.90-92.85 lead into halftime.
BU extended its lead in the second half by winning the toss and tumbling events, and they took a 13-point lead into the final event. After winning the team event 92.90-84.71, the Bears found themselves with a 276.275-254.910 victory and a trip to the semifinals.
HIGHLIGHTS
*Baylor has won six straight meets.
*Baylor is 28-1 under head coach Felecia Mulkey.
*Baylor is 7-0 under Mulkey in the NCATA national championship.
*The Bears won all six events: compulsory, acro, pyramid, toss, tumbling, and team.
*A team of 15 Bears posted a very strong 9.85 in pyramid heat of the compulsory event.
*The team of Ceara Smith, Allie Alaman, Kaylee Adams, and Kiara Nolwin posted a 9.90 in the five-element heat of the acro event.
*The team of Allie Alaman, Kaelyn Cowan, Jena Fisher, Mikea Knox, Hannah Schumacher, and Miranda Girouard posted a 9.85 in heat three of the pyramid event.
*Lauren Sturm posted a 9.80 in the six-element pass of the tumbling event.
*Kiara Nowlin scored a 9.875 open pass of tumbling event.
STAT OF THE DAY
*The team of Kaelyn Cowan, Bailey Hollier, Gigi Mendoza, Lexie Amrhein posted a 9.90 in the six-element heat of the acro event.
TOP QUOTE
“I’m excited and proud of the girls for getting that first win out here under our belt to move on. We still have areas to improve in and will come back tomorrow vs. Quinnipiac with some tweaks to our performance even more motivation.” – Head Coach Felecia Mulkey
WHAT’S NEXT
The No. 2 seeded Bears will face No. 3 Quinnipiac in the NCATA national championship semifinals at 7 p.m. CT. The Bears defeated the Bobcats earlier this season by a score of 281.110-272.700
