No. 1 Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling (8-0) took down the No. 8 Gannon University (4-5) 285.175-261.480 Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
The Bears broke open the meet in compulsory event to take the lead 38.75-35.75. Baylor continued to excel in the acro event, with a win in the event 29.55-28.50, extending the lead to 68.30-64.25. Before the half, the Bears impressed in the pyramid event, 29.65-28.85 and kept the lead 97.950-93.100.
After the break, BU soared in the toss event, 29.35-27.70, extended their lead to 127.300-120.800. The Bears continued to dominate in the tumbling event, 57.775-50.600 and led Gannon 185.075-171.400 heading into the team event.
Baylor finished off the meet in style with a 100.10-90.08 win in the team event, the third time they have broken the 100-point mark this season.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Sophomore Lauren Sturm tumbled her way to a 9.875 in her open pass.
• The team of Kaelyn Cowan, Molly Gibbons, Gigi Mendoza, Miranda Girouard, Lauren Sturm, Allie Alaman, Allie Williams, Kelci Ortiz, Kaylee Adams, Courtney Pate, Taylor Watson, Toni Bronisevsky, Shayla Kelley, Amanda Graceffa and Meredith Aldis received a perfect 10 in the pyramid heat of the compulsory event.
• In heat 2 of the acro event, the team of Allie Williams, Kati Horstmann, Gigi Mendoza, Kiara Nowlin and Kalee Garvin scored a 9.90.
• The Bears acro score of 29.55 was the fourth highest all-time.
STAT OF THE DAY
Junior Kiara Nowlin earned a perfect 10 in her 6 element pass, marking the third time this season she has earned a perfect score.
TOP QUOTE
"Today was definitely a handle business day, it was very weird and if you are on the bench with us a lot you have those weird energy days,” head coach Felecia Mulkey said. “We pulled together and talked a couple times and said this energy is weird, don’t let your guard down. I wanted them to be able to do that to get the first one out of the way and get the tournament jitters out. It’s our home crowd and it’s our home field but it feels different when it’s the tournament, so I thought they did well and we definitely have some room for improvement.”
WHAT'S NEXT
The No. 1 seeded Bears will face either No. 4 Hawaii Pacific (3-3) or No. 5 seeded Azusa Pacific Cougars (5-3) in the NCATA national championship semifinal at 9 a.m. (CT) in Fairmont, W.Va.
The Bears defeated Hawaii Pacific earlier this season in Honolulu, 271.335-267.335, and did not face Azusa Pacific.
