Sophomore Anna Li has spent a lot of time in practice recently working on a double layout for her floor routine.
On Friday night she tried it for the first time in competition. She nailed it.
The double layout earned Li a career high-tying score of 9.9 on floor exercise and helped lead the Bruin gymnastics team to a 195.975-194.425 victory over the Washington Huskies in Seattle.
In addition to winning the meet, the Bruins swept the all-around competition, led by senior Tasha Schwikert, who came in first with a score of 39.5.
Narrowly coming in second was Li with a 39.45, followed by redshirt freshman Brittani McCullough, who scored a 39.225.
McCullough is coming off of two straight injury-plagued seasons, but has started this season off strong by placing in the top three in all-around in all four meets thus far.
“Every time she performs, I think about how hard she has worked to recover, and it’s great to see,” head coach Valorie Kondos Field said.
In the first rotation of the night, the Bruins earned a season-high score in uneven bars with a 49.175, giving the team an early lead they would never relinquish.
After solid performances in the vault and the floor exercise, where the women earned team scores of 48.9 and 48.75 respectively, the team entered the final rotation, the beam, with close to a one-point lead.
The team finished off on the beam with a score of 49.150, led by event winners Schwikert and junior Ariana Berlin, who both scored 9.85.
Schwikert also won on vault with a score of 9.925, while Li won both on the uneven parallel bars and in the floor exercise, with scores of 9.925 and 9.9 respectively.
While it is still early in the season, Kondos Field believes that this team has already shown itself to be of championship caliber.
“What sets this team apart is our ability not to shut down,” Kondos Field said. “They are not letting things get to them, and I think that is what it takes to win a NCAA championship.”
The team performed on Friday night without junior Kristina Comforte, who sat out with a right knee injury she suffered last week in the team’s meet against Stanford.
Test results showed significant bone bruising but no ligament damage, and Comforte is recovering faster then initially expected.
“Kristina is doing well,” Kondos Field said. “There is less swelling already, which is remarkable for only one week.”
UCLA was also able to overcome injuries to several other gymnasts. Shavahn Church, Ashley Jenkins, Marci Bernholtz and Talia Kushynski all missed the meet.
The Bruins will meet up against the Huskies again next Friday in Chicago as part of a quad-meet also featuring Stanford and Illinois.