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During the first rotation of last year’s meet against Utah, the UCLA gymnastics team posted six vault scores 9.8 or above and Utah saw two gymnasts fall on the uneven bars.
UCLA defeated Utah at Pauley Pavilion by more than two points, illustrating the importance of a strong start.
The No. 8 Bruins will travel to meet the No. 4 Utes for a Pac-12 matchup on Saturday, looking for another quick start. Utah is 43-24-1 against UCLA, but the Bruins have walked away with the last eight victories.
Coach Valorie Kondos Field explained the power of an excellent performance in providing momentum for the rest of the team.
“If you can start off with someone who’s confident, (who) makes the rest of the team feel confident, you want that feeling to permeate through the whole team,” Kondos Field said. “If you start off with someone they don’t really trust, then the whole team is gonna have this uptight feeling going into their routines.”
Sophomore Sophina DeJesus said she has felt the pressure of starting on balance beam for the past two meets.
“Being first on any event is really important just to get the team started and like hit it with a bang,” DeJesus said. “This year being first on beam felt a little bit more shaky in a way, but hopefully whoever starts on beam next time will start strong and it’ll be great.”
The beam rotations at both meets have demonstrated the weak link in UCLA’s overall performance with falls and shaky routines from several of the gymnasts. Kondos Field said the team is switching up its lineup in upcoming meets in order to determine who will be able to score the highest in the six positions available for each rotation.
Senior Sydney Sawa, who propelled UCLA over Oregon State Sunday with her floor routine, has seen lineups change during the course of her years on the team.
“It’s really important figuring that out and switching it up just so we know by the end of the season where everyone needs to be to be able to do their best,” Sawa said.
Sawa’s position as the anchor has proven beneficial for the Bruins. She scored a 9.9 and 9.975 on floor exercise during the meets against Florida and Oregon State, respectively.
Whether or not DeJesus and Sawa will remain at their starting and finishing positions remains to be determined since the gymnasts do not know where they will be placed until the day of the meet.
Sawa said she is excited to compete against Utah again and is looking forward to the large crowd of fans that Utah’s program attracts.
“They’re always a good team to go against because they don’t hold back,” Sawa said. “They’re always going big.”
Correction: A note was left in the article from the editing process.