EUGENE, Ore. – After trailing No. 9 Hawai’i Pacific for the majority of the meet, the No. 2 Oregon acrobatics & tumbling program put together a big performance in the team event to complete a comeback victory in the season opener on Saturday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
A setback during the six element acro heat put the Ducks (1-0) behind as the Sharks (0-1) opened up a 64.650-63.250 lead after the second event. Oregon bounced back by winning the pyramid and toss events, but found themselves needing to make up ground as they trailed 176.050-175.250 entering the final event of the night.
The Ducks came together to execute a team event that scored 85.52, which cleared Hawai’i Pacific’s score of 78.08 and secured a 260.500-254.130 season-opening victory for Oregon in front of its home crowd.
How It Happened: Oregon got off to a hot start in the compulsory event, scoring a pair of 9.95s in the pyramid and toss heat. A pair of freshmen in Emily Rezner and Bella Swarthout appeared in each of the two events, helping the Ducks build a 38.45-36.35 lead after the first event.
A 9.55 in the five element heat opened the acro event with impressive performances by Bethany Glick and transfers Charlotte Lippa and Niya Hewitt. A setback in the six element heat put Oregon in a hole, but a 9.90 response in the seven element heat thanks to Glick and Riley Watson helped limit the damage.
The Ducks started to climb back into the meet in the pyramid event, using a 9.80 in the inversion heat and a 9.75 in the open heat to help outscore the Sharks 29.05-28.80, cutting the deficit 93.450-92.300 as the teams broke for halftime.
The toss event was another tight contest between the two top-10 programs, but Emma Keogh and Makena Carrion soared to earn a 9.70 score in the synchronized toss heat that helped give Oregon the slight advantage in the event. The Ducks’ progress was halted in the tumbling event as a 9.85 from the Sharks in the open pass heat gave the visitors the lead in the event, adding additional pressure on Oregon to turn in a good performance in the team event.
With a crowd of 979 behind them, the Ducks put together an electric performance that went on to secure the victory in their first meet of the season.
Quotable: “I’m happy that we pulled out a win today,” head coach Taylor Susnara said. “They gave us a run for our money in the first half. We didn’t quite show up the way that we wanted to and how we practice, so we have some work to do in the gym. But overall I’m proud of how they recovered throughout the meet.”
“Our athletes killed it in the team event,” Susnara said. “I was super proud of them. The energy was really good and their technique was good, and they really pulled it out when they needed to.”
Up Next: Oregon travels to battle top-ranked Baylor on Feb. 25 in Waco, Texas.
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