HONOLULU – A perfect 10 in the open pyramid heat highlighted a dominant road victory for No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling over No. 9 Hawai’i Pacific, 276.915-258.345, on Sunday night at The Shark Tank.
The Ducks (2-2) opened the meet with a strong showing in the compulsory event, taking 38.35-37.65 lead over the Sharks (1-6) in the early stages. Hawai’i Pacific bounced back to defeat Oregon in the acro event, but the Ducks rebounded with a perfect 10 in the third heat of the pyramid event to reclaim the momentum. Bases Bella Swarthout, Cami Wilson and Ava Gowdy linked up with top Makena Carrion to dazzle the judge, recording Oregon’s first 10 in the heat since 2021.
Oregon continued its surge by recording a season high 29.25 in the following toss event and entered the team event with a healthy lead thanks to some quality showings in tumbling. The Ducks fired on all cylinders in the final event and posted a season best 94.14 to put an exclamation point on the victory.
How It Happened: Oregon got off to a fast start in the meet with impressive performances in the compulsory event. The Ducks executed the toss heat beautifully to earn a 9.95, tying their season high in the heat. That along with a season-high 9.10 in the tumbling heat helped Oregon jump out to a 38.35-37.65 lead after the opening event.
Oregon opened the acro event with another strong performance, scoring a season-best 9.80 in heat one. However, Hawai’i Pacific put together consistent performances across the board to earn a narrow victory, 28.65-28.60, cutting into the Ducks’ overall lead entering the pyramid event.
In pyramid, Oregon opened with scores of 9.80 in both the inversion and synchronized heat, the latter of which being a season high. The Ducks then executed the open heat to perfection to earn a 10 and post an event score of 29.60, the highest in the event this season. UO grew its overall lead to 96.55-95.45, giving itself a bit of cushion entering halftime.
Not content with its lead, Oregon came out of the halftime break to match its season high in the toss event with 29.25, led by a 9.85 in the open heat. In the tumbling event, Rickelle Henderson wowed the judges with her performance in the open pass to earn a 9.90 – UO’s highest score in the event since 2022. Her score helped give Oregon earn a 56.975-55.375 edge in the event, and gave the Ducks a 182.775-178.875 lead heading into the final event.
After a disappointing performance in the team event in its last time out against Quinnipiac, Oregon looked focused and sharp throughout the duration of event on Sunday. The Ducks put together a complete performance to earn a season-high score of 94.14, putting the finishing touches on a dominant road victory.
What’s Next: Oregon returns to Matthew Knight Arena for its final home meet of the season on April 5 at 5 p.m. PT against top-ranked Baylor.
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