Gymnastics scores a season-high in victory against North Carolina at Pauley Pavilion
Freshman Sydney Sawa, seen here on vault at the Pac-10 Preview, took first place in the all-around in UCLA’s meet against North Carolina State on Monday.
Gymnastics
UCLA 197.475
North Carolina State 195.025
By Patricia Lee
Feb. 22, 2011 2:23 a.m.
Home sweet home.
Sometimes, a simple trip home is just what is needed to achieve that feeling of comfort. Home is where family and friends are, and after a road trip, being at home is all that the weary traveler wants.
The No. 9 UCLA gymnastics team finally came home to Pauley Pavilion to have its first home meet in six weeks, and promptly beat No. 25 North Carolina State 197.475-195.025 in front of a home crowd of 2,052.
“They’ve been looking forward to this,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said of her gymnasts. “They love what they call “˜The Magic Pauley.’ They love being at home, the home crowd, the atmosphere of being here and the history and tradition of this place.”
Freshman Sydney Sawa definitely worked the magic of Pauley, finishing first in the all-around with a career-best score of 39.275 ““ led by her personal-best score of 9.925 in the floor exercise.
“I wasn’t thinking about my score at all,” Sawa said. “It’s really exciting to win the all-around. I actually wasn’t even supposed to be in the all-around, but at the last minute, they called me up first. I was a bit nervous, but I’m happy to do well.”
Junior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs matched Sawa’s score in the floor exercise to help lead the Bruins to a season-best of 49.425 on floor. The Bruins also broke two more season records with scores of 49.4 in both the vault and the balance beam.
UCLA’s season-high performance on the vault was led by junior Tauny Frattone, who tied her career record on the vault with a 9.95.
The team’s season-high on the balance beam was led by several individual bests. Hopfner-Hibbs tied her season-high with a 9.95. Redshirt senior Brittani McCullough matched that score and set a career-high in the event. Senior Niki Tom also matched her season-high with a 9.825.
“We definitely compete more as a unit,” McCullough said. “We’re also having more fun.”
The Bruins have performed well since their mediocre showing at Stanford, and the team has averaged a score of 196.817 in its last three meets, the kind of success that Kondos Field believes has emerged because the gymnasts are having fun.
“They’ve always been a really strong team, but they’ve wanted it so badly they haven’t allowed themselves to have fun,” Kondos Field said. “But they certainly did (Monday), and the best part about that is that we can still get better.”
