Holly Murdock started the meet off with a big stumble on the
vault, but that would be the last of UCLA’s problems.
Sunday was a day of season bests in Pauley Pavilion, as the No.
3 UCLA gymnastics team set season high scores on both the vault and
overall team score in a 197.975 to 196.425 victory over No. 7
Stanford in front of 2,597 fans.
The Bruins scored a 49.675 on their first apparatus of the day,
the vault, the event that has given them the hardest time this
year.
“The vault start set up the rest of the meet,” said
senior Kristen Maloney, who tied her personal record on the
apparatus.
“Our spirits were really high after that.”
“To start off that strongly was really important for
us,” coach Valorie Kondos Field added.
The Bruins then moved on to the bars, where seniors Kristen
Maloney and Yvonne Tousek led the team with 9.925s, while freshman
Lori Winn set a personal best with a 9.875.
By the end of the first two routines, UCLA held a slim
99.125-98.550 lead, but that would be the closest Stanford would
get in the meet.
The third apparatus saw the gymnasts take to the beam, where
sophomore Kate Richardson led the Bruins with a 9.975, while senior
Jeanette Antolin scored a personal best 9.950 en route to a 49.500
team beam score.
“Our goal for today was just to go out there and show off
our routines and hit them,” said Antolin, who also won the
meet’s all-around competition, “and I think
that’s exactly what we did.”
UCLA ended the meet with the floor exercise, earning a 49.350
overall and capped by Antolin’s inspired performance, which
garnered a 9.950 and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Stanford was led by Natalie Foley, who scored team highs of
9.925 on vault and 9.900 on floor. Foley would go on to score a
Cardinal-best 39.550 in the all-around competition.
Although eventually falling to defeat, Stanford matched UCLA
step by step throughout the early parts of the meet, behind
Caroline Fluhrer’s 9.950 on vault and Glyn Sweet’s
9.925 on the bars.
The Cardinal downfall came during its beam routine, when both
Sweet and Fluhrer fell from the apparatus, earning 9.275 and 9.250,
respectively. Stanford would go on to record a 48.500 score in the
routine.
Sunday’s performance was satisfying for Kondos Field, but
she still feels there is room for improvement.
“We absolutely achieved our goals today,” Kondos
Field said. “However, I still feel like we need to improve
our confidence.
“When I look in their eyes, I need to be able to see it,
and right now I’m not seeing it from everyone, but
we’re getting more polished as the season is
progressing.”