Gymnastics: Gymnasts seek to vault over opponents in “˜Soup’er Bowl’

After a shaky start to its season, the UCLA gymnastics team has
regained its swagger and is beginning to resemble the team that
was heavily favored to win the national championship early in
the year.

Following three consecutive road meets, during which the Bruins
reasserted their dominance with two impressive victories, No. 6
UCLA (2-2) is back home to take on No. 19 Arizona State (3-1) and
Cal State Fullerton (1-2) in a triangular meet this Sunday at 2
p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.

“It’s good to be back home and have home-court
advantage,” senior Jeanette Antolin said. 
“We’re more confident, and we’re going to keep on
building (on our success).”

Arizona State is led by All-American senior Maggie Germaine, who
has yet to regain her form from last year due to ankle
problems. 

Last year’s dual meet between the Bruins and Sun Devils in
Tempe saw UCLA edge out a victory by a score of
198.4-198.15. UCLA has won the last six meetings between the
two teams and maintains a 34-22 overall record.

On the other side, Cal State Fullerton is led by freshman Nicole
Lim, who is coming off of her best performance of the year: winning
the all-around title in the Titans’ last meet. 

UCLA won last year’s two meetings against Cal State
Fullerton, including their dual meet at Titan Gym by a score of
194.1-193.9.  Overall, the Bruins hold a 38-24 record over the
Titans.

“We’re at our best with what we’ve got right
now,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “The season is
going better than I planned it to, and we’re coming along
quicker than I thought we would.

“It’s nice that we’re home for two
weeks. I’m looking forward to our fans seeing our full
potential.”

To lure fans to the match despite the meet’s inauspicious
timing (it coincides with the Super Bowl), UCLA dubbed this
Sunday’s meet “Soup’er Bowl Sunday.”Â 
Fans who bring a canned food donation will receive one free general
admission ticket.