UCLA gymnastics falls to Stanford despite perfect 10 routine

This post was updated Feb. 13 at 10:46 p.m.

The Bruins had gone 62 straight rotations without a perfect 10 until last week.

And then Jordan Chiles arrived.

Despite the freshman reaching perfection for the second straight week, No. 16 UCLA gymnastics was defeated by No. 19 Stanford 196.900-196.850 at Maples Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins had not lost to the Cardinal in a dual meet since 2011.

“Wins and losses ultimately don’t matter, but still, Stanford’s a rival for us,” said coach Chris Waller. “It would have been nice to come out with a ‘W,’ but I’m incredibly proud of our team and the way that they battled.”

The last time UCLA took the competition floor eight days ago, Chiles put up a perfect score on floor in the final rotation against No. 3 Utah. It was the Bruins’ first perfect 10 since Kyla Ross reached perfection on vault in 2020.

In her first routine since that perfect 10, Chiles did it again – this time on a different event.

With UCLA on the road, the blue and gold opened the meet on bars. None of the first four competitors for the Bruins on the event hit the 9.900 mark, including sophomore Sara Ulias’ 9.700 after appearing to sustain an injury on her double layout dismount.

“We had a few mistakes on each event, but we always brought the momentum back,” said freshman Emma Malabuyo. “We finished really strong.”

Coming off a 9.925 on bars the week prior, Chiles left no room for deductions Saturday, earning her second straight perfect 10. 

Waller said while Chiles didn’t have the best warmups on bars, she rebounded in competition.

“She’s put in her 10,000 hours,” Waller said. “I reminded her, ‘If you didn’t warm up today and you just walked into the arena, you could go out there and just nail a routine.’ There’s no doubt she went up there and went big.”

Senior Norah Flatley added a 9.900 in the anchor spot to bring UCLA’s total on bars to 49.350. While the Bruins entered the second rotation with a 0.375-point lead, the Cardinal closed the gap at the halfway point of the meet with a 49.450 on bars.

Led by sophomore Chae Campbell’s fourth 9.900 in five meets this season, UCLA tallied a 49.150 on vault, its worst-ranked event entering the competition. Senior Sekai Wright made her season debut on vault with a 9.825 after becoming the Pac-12 champion on the event a season ago.

After tallying a 49.600 on floor against the Red Rocks in their last meet, however, the Bruins regressed to a 48.975 on the event in the third rotation. Sophomore Katie McNamara made her UCLA debut as a late substitution for senior Pauline Tratz, putting up a 9.625 in her first routine in the blue and gold.

No Bruins reached the 9.900 mark on floor despite four UCLA gymnasts doing so against Utah. Campbell and Malabuyo led the way with a pair of 9.875 scores as the Bruins entered the third rotation leading by less than a tenth of a point.

Malabuyo said competing on floor on the road is a much different feeling than doing so in Pauley Pavilion.

“It feels so, so different,” Malabuyo said. “I love competing in Pauley because The Den is there and I love the energy that they give us, and you just feel so much support. You just feel like you’re performing for them, for the crowd, for your teammates, for your friends out there and family.”

UCLA opened its beam rotation with consecutive sub-9.700 scores as Padurariu nearly slipped off the beam on her dismount and Chiles had to place a hand on the beam to avoid a fall.

While the Bruins rebounded with four straight 9.900-plus scores, including a career-high-tying 9.900 from senior Kendal Poston in the anchor spot, the Cardinal finished the meet with a 49.600 on floor behind a 9.975 from Kyla Bryant to close out the meet and secure the win for the home squad.

Despite Stanford closing the gap, senior Samantha Sakti – who tallied a career-high-tying 9.950 on beam – said the final rotation highlighted UCLA’s mental fortitude.

“It’s all about resiliency and feeding off of each other’s energy,” Sakti said. “Even though there were a few mistakes in the beginning, people kept it together, and we’ve got each other’s backs.”

In three road meets this season, the Bruins have averaged a 196 team score compared to their 197.025 average in Pauley Pavilion.

Waller said the road environment is a different atmosphere his team will have to adjust to.

“Last week we had close to 7,000 fans (at Pauley Pavilion), going crazy at everything we did – and this week we had maybe 100 fans going crazy,” Waller said. “It’s just a different impact for the team. But it’s important that our team continues to figure out how to perform on the road better and better.”

UCLA will be back on the road once more as it heads to Tempe to take on Arizona State on Sunday.