In a much-anticipated gymnastics meet, the No. 6 Bruins needed much more from their squad in order to beat the nation’s top team, No. 1 Georgia.
Since the beginning of the season, coach Valorie Kondos Field made it a goal to hit four solid events in every meet. Unfortunately for the Bruins, on Sunday that did not happen.
Four Bruins fell in their routines, which spelled a loss for UCLA. The final tally was 197.725-196.125, and the Gym Dogs remain undefeated.
Although the Bruins lost the dual meet, Kondos Field believes her team did well during the floor event. After she saw her team’s performance, she knows what they have to keep working on.
“We were up and pumped,” Kondos Field said. “We got tight, and you can’t get tight. Performing in a televised event was great, and I was really proud of our athletes to come back on floor and light up the arena.”
“We went to beam, and on that event if someone falls first or second up, it’s a killer for the rest of the team. It’s hard to get the next athletes to compete loosely and with confidence after this happens.”
During Sunday’s meet, freshman Vanessa Zamarripa met her biggest competition yet in her collegiate career: Georgia’s Courtney Kupets. The two athletes are the only two in the nation who have scored perfect 10s this season. For Zamarripa, they have all been vault events. She came close yesterday to a fourth perfect 10 with a 9.9.
“I felt pretty confident going into the meet even though I had an illness over the weekend,” Zamarripa said. “I’m getting over that and I think I did pretty well. I had a lot of fun this time, and a lot of my family came down. It was really cool to compete against someone that had as many 10s as me.”
Despite the loss, it was one of the most memorable gymnastics events for senior Ariana Berlin. Last week she was told that she was not physically prepared to compete against Georgia due to a number of injuries. Even so, after a fast recovery, she broke her collegiate record for the all-around and scored a career high 9.9 on the balance beam. She took second place in the all-around. After the meet, she performed a routine with her dance crew, World Famous.
“It felt amazing and I never expected it,” Berlin said. “Three days ago I wasn’t able to walk and I was on crutches. Each day I was getting better, but the trainers and coaches told me that I wasn’t competing. As my knee kept getting better I was feeling optimistic. But we needed a stronger mental game.”
“Ariana has competed in every single meet of her collegiate career,” Kondos Field said. “I don’t know another athlete that can say they’ve done that. Today she said she can go. She has earned our trust. If she says she can go, that means she can go.”
Now that they know where they need to improve, the Bruins are focusing on their rematch against Nebraska.
“We’re doing a great job and going into the gym and getting one-tenth better,” Kondos Field said. “This means we have to get better on our landings. I think we need to not be surprised when we do well. I’m thrilled, and the freshmen are growing right before our eyes.”