The No. 2 Bruins started their week off strong with a win over Arizona and have kept it rolling along.
After making a jump in the rankings from No. 3 to No. 2, UCLA now only sits behind Florida.
The Bruins also made headlines when freshman Vanessa Zamarripa was named the Pac-10 gymnast of the week on Tuesday.
Zamarripa, who was also named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week, took the all-around title on Sunday in the Bruin victory over the Wildcats. She earned the top spot with a career-high 39.4 points, the highest score by any Pac-10 gymnast so far this season.
In her first-place performance, Zamarripa scored a 9.85 on the parallel uneven bars, a 9.825 on the balance beam, a 9.9 on the vault and a 9.825 on her floor exercise. All scores either tied or set career-highs. Zamarripa’s season average of 9.9 on the vault currently ranks fifth in the nation.
INJURY REPORT: Senior Ariana Berlin, junior Anna Li and redshirt sophomore Brittani McCullough are three top Bruins who have all been sidelined due to injury. Li and McCullough had bone spurs removed while Berlin has a bone bruise in her knee.
According to coach Valorie Kondos Field, all three will be all-around contenders when they return.
Both Berlin and Li only competed in the uneven parallel bars against Arizona, with Li taking first and Berlin taking second.
Field is optimistic that all three girls will be back in full force soon.
“I’m hoping that Anna will be back on another event next week, she will do two next week, Ariana will do two, and Brittani will do two events,” Field said. “Hopefully the week after that we will do three events.”
UPCOMING MEETS: The Bruins have two meets this week, with the first coming on Friday when UCLA travels to Orange County to face Cal State Fullerton. The team will return to Westwood on Sunday to take on California.
With two meets in a two-day span, questions of endurance are raised. But Field is quick to dismiss the effects of participating twice.
“We are deep,” Field said. “We could put up two different teams if we wanted to. I think what we are going to do is having everyone compete on a few events at Fullerton, and then we will come back home and put in our A-team.”