There is no mercy rule in collegiate gymnastics, but if there
were, Sunday might just be the day it would be used.
The No. 2 UCLA women’s gymnastics team (2-1) will host a
quad meet against California (2-0), Cal State Fullerton (1-3) and
Sacramento State (2-3), all of which are unranked. Meanwhile, UCLA
leads all Division I teams in vault, bars and beam scoring.
“I definitely think we’ll continue our success
(Sunday),” senior Kristen Maloney said. “We’ll be
putting up a strong lineup and we should do really well.”
Sacramento State, arriving at Pauley fresh off a victory over
Brown, is led by junior Carrie Kinghorn, who tallied a career-high
38.15 all-around score in the win. However, the Hornets have found
themselves on the losing end of their past two meetings with
UCLA.
The other schools in the meet have fared no better. Cal, led by
My-Lan Dodd, has won just once in 43 attempts against the Bruins.
Though the Golden Bears go into the quad meet on the heels of a big
season-opening triangular meet victory, Cal State Fullerton will
likely provide the biggest threat to the Bruins this weekend. Last
year, the Titans pulled off an improbable upset against UCLA.
Although the Titans’ lone senior and team leader, Annette
Reyes, has been relegated to the bars and beam after off-season
ankle surgery, sophomore Erica Ficarrotta has shown her propensity
to step up against the Bruins. In last season’s victory over
the Bruins, her 39.125 all-around score was good enough for first
place. Still, UCLA holds a comfortable 39-25 record against the
Titans.
Providing the most telling proof of UCLA’s advantage over
this weekend’s opponents is the comparison of their average
final scores this season.
Having scored at least 197 in their last two meets, UCLA holds a
195.9 season average, while the combined averages of the
challengers are 191.55.
Still, the Bruins contend they won’t handle the upcoming
meet lightly.
“We never underestimate our opponents,” coach
Valorie Kondos Field said. “We don’t think about the
other teams and we don’t talk about the other teams. We
don’t change our strategy for anyone.”