UCLA gymnastics hope to find some much-needed consistency in home meet against North Carolina State
Monique De La Torre and the gymnastics team return to Pauley Pavilion after a long road stretch to compete against North Carolina State on Monday.
Correction: The original version of this photo misidentified sophomore gymnast Monique De La Torre as junior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs.
Gymnastics
North Carolina State
Monday, 1 p.m.
Pauley Pavilion
Follow live stats on UCLABruins.com
The No. 9 Bruins host a meet at Pauley for the first time in six weeks when the No. 25 Wolfpack visit.
By Mansi Sheth
Feb. 18, 2011 2:46 a.m.
The last time the UCLA gymnastics team competed in Pauley Pavilion, their season was less than three days old and full of the hype that accompanies a preseason No. 1 team.
Six weeks later, the excitement of a fresh start has been replaced by the reality of disappointing road losses. As the travel-weary Bruins finally return home, they are hoping that a friendly crowd will provide a much-needed push back towards the top.
Monday’s competition against North Carolina State marks the first time in three weeks that the No. 9 Bruins (6-6) will face a nonconference opponent. UCLA has competed several times against the No. 25 Wolfpack, who are coming off a second-place finish behind Arizona at the Sweetheart Invitational.
“They are one of those teams that may not be ranked very high but if they put it all together, they can certainly contend to win the meet,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said of North Carolina State. “They surprise people with how well they do.”
The Bruins average higher scores than the Wolfpack on all four events but given UCLA’s lack of consistency this season, this statistic does not hold much weight.
Despite strong individual performances, the Bruins have been unable to compete well throughout all four rotations. There are four gymnasts ranked in the top 25 for the all-around but the team has failed to string together four scores above 49 this season.
“We not only need to be consistent, but we need to figure out our landings,” Kondos Field said. “We are figuring out how to land in the gym and we need to bring that to competition.”
After their Feb. 11 meet, the Bruins received their first Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of the season, a 195.335. The RQS determines UCLA’s national ranking going into the postseason and is calculated by dropping a team’s highest score and then averaging their five next best totals.
Although the Bruins’ RQS is below 196, Kondos Field remains confident in the team’s ability to improve, citing similarities between this season’s progress and last year.
“If you take our season last year up until now and you overlay this year’s season, they are almost identical,” she said. “The thing that looks great to me is that if you look at last year, it is exactly after this last weekend when we put it all together and really started the Bruin domination.”
Heart of a champion
Ticket proceeds from Monday’s meet will go toward raising funds for Camp del Corazon, a nonprofit organization that helps children with heart disease attend summer camp. Several gymnasts have been actively involved in the camp by volunteering over the summer.
“It is dear to our hearts for obvious reasons because it is for the children,” said Kondos Field. “Also our assistant coach Chris Waller has had two open-heart surgeries, so it is a great partnership for us.”
