The No. 7 Bruins ended their regular season with a bang on Senior Day.
After losing to the nation’s top collegiate gymnastics team, the Georgia Gym dogs, the Bruins could not afford to end their regular season with another loss. Fortunately for them, they managed to beat the No. 12 Huskers in a rematch on their home mats.
In their previous encounter, the Bruins competed in a quad meet at Nebraska in which they took second place. Sunday’s meet ended with the Bruins on top, 196.625 to 195.85.
Before the meet kicked-off, seniors Ariana Berlin, Melissa Chan, Kristina Comforte and Alyssa Kitasoe were honored in a special ceremony. Berlin and Comforte both shared a few thoughts on leaving their squad and the future of UCLA gymnastics.
“I obviously already miss competing since I wasn’t able to this year,” Comforte said. “I had to be a lot more patient as an undergraduate assistant coach. It was definitely a challenge for me, but I learned a lot from it, and I enjoyed it. Considering (this year’s freshmen are) the future that’s a really good thing. They’re only going to improve from here. I’m going to miss the team a lot. It’s been an amazing four years.”
Berlin echoed Comforte’s nostalgic sentiments.
“My commitment for the entire meet was to take everything in and make it a happy happy day,” Berlin said. “I’m going to miss lighting up Pauley with the team and having this amazing crowd. The freshmen are already upperclassmen. I look up to every single one of them, and they inspire me. Seeing them grow from how they competed in their first meet and where they are now makes them veterans. They are amazing competitors.”
As for Sunday’s results, the Bruins had another strong start in the vault event as freshmen Vanessa Zamarripa hit a 9.95, and freshmen Elysse Hopfner-Hibbs came in with a 9.875. They maintained the lead until the third event where they lost their balance on beam.
As the first competitor on beam for UCLA, Berlin fell halfway through her routine. Following that up, sophomore Mizuki Sato was marked off for a sloppy mount, which came close to being counted as a fall. Sophomore Marci Bernholtz also fell during her performance.
But the Bruins had a strong comeback during the floor event and managed to regain the lead. Zamarripa put the crowd on its feet as she performed one of her strongest floor routines of the season. Her performance earned her a 9.925 tying a career best. Berlin and freshman Aisha Gerber both topped their high scores on floor with a 9.925.
“When your first one or two people fall on beam, it’s hard not to play tight,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “It’s one of the hardest things to coach … I’m glad that they don’t let down and that they play hard till the end. We talk about how football has to hit four quarters; basketball you have to hit two halves, and in gymnastics you have to hit four strong events. It was really great.”
Now the Bruins will look ahead to the postseason. Their competitors will be announced this week.
“I’m really really pumped about the postseason,” Berlin said. “Every meet we’ve had falls, but we also keep improving. It’s looking really great.”
“We have to make sure to use our trainings wisely,” Kondos Field said. “They have a lot of heart, and we are going to get better and better. Our future looks really bright.”