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UCLA gymnastics heads back on the road for 1st dual meet of season against Utah

Freshman Ciena Alipio smiles after her beam dismount at the Bruins’ home opener. Alipio and the rest of No. 5 UCLA gymnastics will take on No. 4 Utah in Salt Lake City on Friday night. (David Rimer/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Gymnastics


No. 4 Utah
Friday, 6 p.m.

Salt Lake City
ESPN2

By Helene Barnfield

Feb. 3, 2023 12:12 a.m.

This week, the Bruins will face a fellow top-five team after moving up the rankings themselves.

Coming off its home opener Sunday, No. 5 UCLA gymnastics will hit the road again in a quick turnaround to take on No. 4 Utah in Salt Lake City on Friday. This marks the Bruins’ first dual meet with a top-10 team this season, with both teams sitting neck and neck at the top of the Pac-12.

Going into Friday’s meet, coach Janelle McDonald said her team has been very intentional about prioritizing its recovery this week.

“The girls got some time off on Monday and just had a shorter week of training,” McDonald said. “This will help us gear up for the meet this weekend.”

Friday will prove to be UCLA’s toughest dual-meet challenge yet, as the Bruins will be walking into a very different atmosphere against a higher-ranked team – in contrast to last week’s home opener at a packed Pauley Pavilion.

Freshman Ciena Alipio said she is looking forward to trying to mimic the same energy she felt at home last week in order to create the Bruins’ own floor party in Utah.

“I’ve heard stories about the energy in there, and I’m really excited to … build off of their fans,” Alipio said.

As the Bruins prepare for the highly anticipated meet, which will be televised on ESPN2, McDonald said her main message to her team this week is to leverage the atmosphere at Utah to lock in and put forward clean and confident gymnastics.

“We’re going to use all that energy in the room and channel it,” McDonald said. “We’ll stay in our Bruin bubble and just enjoy every moment.”

Highlighting UCLA’s ability to channel its own energy, senior Kalyany Steele said she is also confident that the Bruins’ ability to come together as a team will set them apart come meet time.

For Steele, that confidence stems from the chemistry UCLA has cemented thus far, as she said the Bruins have been focusing on team culture.

“It doesn’t matter what’s going around us,” Steele said. “Wherever we are, we just stay together.”

Following both teams’ start to the season, Friday’s meet should prove to be a close one, as previous matchups between the two programs have historically been some of the most competitive in collegiate gymnastics. The last time the two teams met, the competition ended in a tight Utah victory with a 197.750-197.650 scoreline.

With this in mind, Alipio says that in order to set themselves up for success, the Bruins must not put too much pressure on themselves and instead continue to believe in their skills.

“(We’re) just going in being confident in what we do best … and not letting any outside factors distract us,” Alipio said.

Alipio and the rest of UCLA will take on Utah at the Huntsman Center at 6 p.m. on Friday.

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Helene Barnfield
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