Ninth-ranked UCLA broke Oregon State’s six-meet winning streak Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion with a 196.775-195.950 victory. The Bruins were undaunted by the burden of injuries to key competitors and the sting of a loss last weekend to Utah.
Senior Tasha Schwikert received first place in the all-around with a score of 39.625, and tied for first in bars with senior Jordan Schwikert with a 9.925. Schwikert’s mark tied her season high on bars that was set earlier in the season. She gave solid performances in all four events: a 9.925 on both bars and the floor exercise, a 9.90 on the vault and a 9.875 on the beam.
Still recovering from a strained achilles tendon, Tasha put the injury in the back of her mind when it counted.
“I was a little nervous, but I had enough confidence in myself to perform,” she said. “I didn’t warm up hardly at all; … I’m trying to keep pressure off it whenever possible so that it doesn’t hurt in competition.”
The team started off strong on the vault with two 9.90s received by Tasha Schwikert and junior Kristina Comforte. Showing no signs of her knee injury suffered during the Stanford meet on Jan. 27, Comforte earned 9.90s in both the vault and the bars events.
The uneven bars were expected to be a challenge for the Bruins, as specialist Anna Li (ranked No. 2 in the nation) was not competing because of injuries. Nevertheless, the Schwikert sisters dominated them with scores of 9.925 each. By the end of the second rotation, UCLA had the edge over Oregon State 98.775-98.275.
But the third rotation was problematic for UCLA.
Freshman Marci Bernholtz and junior Melissa Chan both fell mid-routine on the beam, letting the Beavers make up for lost time in the floor exercise with a 9.925 from Tasha Smith and a 9.90 from Jami Lanz. However, redshirt freshman Brittani McCullough came through for the Bruins, with a personal best of 9.90. Another victim of injury ““ a concussion resulting from a fall during warm-ups at the Utah meet ““ McCullough seemed calm on beam and in her other three events.
“I just didn’t think about it,” McCullough said. “That was last week; I needed to focus on this week. I just went out there and forgot about it.”
In the fourth rotation the Beavers suffered two falls of their own as UCLA went on to victory.
UCLA will go up against Alabama, Arkansas and Cal State Fullerton next Sunday in Pauley Pavilion at 2 p.m. This week, Kondos Field may give her injured team a little bit of rest.
“We’re going to give the girls a break,” Kondos Field said. “We’re really just going to focus on resting and getting the balance beam under control.”