The UCLA women’s gymnastics team held off Arizona State’s best performance of the season, beating the Sun Devils 195.725-195.275 in Tempe on Friday night.
The No. 6 Bruins were led again by junior Tasha Schwikert, who had been named Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week for the second consecutive week.
Schwikert finished the all-around competition with a score of 39.45, a mark that was good enough for first place. She lengthens the streak of consecutive first-place finishes to four.
UCLA has benefited all season from the junior, racking up a 5-2 record. But on Saturday, the team benefited from another Schwikert.
The Bruins got an added lift from all-American Jordan Schwikert, Tasha’s younger sister. Jordan, a typical all-around performer, had been slowed by a hamstring injury allowing her to participate only in uneven bars.
Competing in the vault for the first time this season, Jordan Schwikert stuck a 9.825, the highest vault score of the day for the Bruins. She added her personal season-high on uneven bars, scoring a 9.875.
UCLA got itself in the driver’s seat at the start of the meet with a 49.3 on the uneven bars and handled business throughout to bring home the win.
The Bruins made their largest gain on the Sun Devils in the floor routines and were able to endure subpar performances on the vault, normally their most consistent and highest-scoring event.
The match was close in the late going, but a strong team performance on the balance beam ensured UCLA the win.
With Friday’s win, the Bruins wrapped up the month of January, in which they competed in six meets (one with three teams). The Bruins won four, but were unable to take down No. 2 Utah and dropped a home match to No. 12 Stanford.
Boosting the Bruins throughout the stretch were the stellar performances of freshman Anna Li and walk-on senior Michelle Selesky, who gave UCLA both energy and consistency.
Li tied Jordan Schwikert for second on the uneven bars, while both Li and Selesky turned in a score of 9.825 on the floor exercises.
Li is 18th in the nation in the all-around competition. Selesky is 23rd on vault.
The Bruins have a two-week break before competing at Denver on Feb. 10.