UCLA
Utah
No. 2 UCLA Hosts No. 3 Utah in Gymnastics Battle
February 16, 2018 | Gymnastics
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Utah
Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 โ 5 p.m. (PT)
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Jim Watson (play-by-play), Amanda Borden (analyst)
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: $12 (UCLA students are free)
Ticket Promotion: Free admission with ticket from Feb. 17 UCLA MBB game
Giveaways: Pom poms to first 1,500 fans, Together We Rise wristbands to first 500 fans
NO. 2 VS. NO. 3 SHOWDOWN
No. 2 UCLA (9-1, 3-0 in the Pac-12) hosts No. 3 Utah (7-1, 4-0 in the Pac-12) in the marquee matchup of the Pac-12 Conference season. The meet will take place on Sunday, Feb. 18 in Pauley Pavilion and will be televised live at 5pm on the Pac-12 Network, with Jim Watson and Amanda Borden calling the action. UCLA will welcome and honor its gymnastics alumni at the conclusion of Sunday's meet.
FAN ADVISORY
Sunday's meet will begin at 5pm, with the first vault scheduled for 5:06 pm. With a large crowd expected, fans are advised to arrive early. Doors open at 3:45pm, and pre-meet festivities begin at 4:40pm. The national anthem at 4:50 pm will be sung by America's Got Talent semifinalist Calysta Bevier.
Pauley Pavilion has a clear bag policy. One large clear bag, either a one gallon Ziploc style bag or a 12' by 6" by 12" clear bag, or a small clutch may be allowed into the arena. Increased screening through the use of electronic security equipment will be used at all entry gates. For more information, visit uclabruins.com/pauleygamedayinfo.
TICKETS/PROMOTIONS
Tickets for UCLA home meets are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster. UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. This week's prize is an iPad. Pom poms will be distributed to the first 1,500 fans in attendance, and "Together We Rise" teal wristbands and team posters will be distributed to the first 500 fans at the North Doors.
BRUINS ON THE RISE
UCLA leapfrogged two spots to No. 2 in the national rankings after scoring 197.750 on the road at Cal Feb. 10. The Bruins have scored 197+ in each of the last five meets and is averaging 197.346 on the year and 197.775 in their last three meets. The Bruins have a season-high of 197.9750, set against No. 1 Oklahoma on Feb. 4.
PRIDE OF THE PAC
UCLA and Utah have combined to win five of the six Pac-12 titles since the Utes joined the conference in 2012. UCLA's victories have come in 2012 and 2016, while Utah has won in 2014, 2015 and 2017. UCLA has an additional 15 Pac-10 Championships. Three reigning Pac-12 are competing at this meet - UCLA's Kyla Ross (beam) and Utah's MyKayla Skinner (all-around, vault, floor) and Tiffani Lewis (vault). The two teams have also combined to win 15 NCAA team championships. UCLA won its titles in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2010. Utah won in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995).
ABOUT THE UTES
Utah ranks No. 3 overall and No. 1 on floor exercise, No. 2 on vault, No. 4 on bars and No. 8 on beam. Utah is led by 2016 Olympic alternate and 2017 NCAA floor champion MyKayla Skinner and three-time All-American MaKenna Merrell-Giles. The Ute duo rank No. 2 and 8, respectively, in the national all-around rankings. The Utes have a season average of 197.292 and a season-high of 197.700, set Feb. 3 vs. Washington. Utah's only loss this season came against UCLA at Elevate the Stage in Reno on Jan. 14, 197.200-196.975.
UCLA DEPTH SHINES IN WIN AT CAL
UCLA showed just how deep it was in a 197.750-197.225 victory at Cal on Feb. 10, competing a season-high 15 gymnasts and scoring 49.425 or better on three events, including a season-high 49.525 on uneven bars. Freshman Nia Dennis scored a career-high 39.425 in the all-around and set new career-bests on bars (9.9) and beam (9.875). Senior Napualani Hall won vault and floor with career-high scores of 9.95 and 9.9, respectively. Anna Glenn and Savannah Kooyman made their UCLA competitive debuts on vault (9.8) and floor (9.825),respectively, and Kooyman also set a new career-high on just her second competitive routine on bars, scoring 9.875. The Bruins scored 49.525 on beam without the services of defending NCAA champion Kyla Ross and three-time 10.0-scorer Christine Peng-Peng Lee.
HALL WINS UCLA's SIXTH-STRAIGHT PAC-12 SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK AWARD
Senior Napualani Hall was selected the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for the first time in her career. Hall recorded career-bests on vault and floor to win both events during UCLA's 197.750-197.225 victory at Cal. She stuck her laid-out Yurchenko 1.5 vault and scored a career-high 9.95 for the second meet in a row. She also tied for first on floor exercise in her debut performance this season, scoring a career-best 9.9. Her vault win was just the second of her career, and her floor victory was her first ever. Hall has been on fire on vault, scoring 9.9 or higher in four of her last five meets and averaging 9.915 on her last five vaults. UCLA has won all six Pac-12 Specialist of the Week awards this season. Christine Peng-Peng Lee has won the award three times, and Hall, Grace Glenn and Felicia Hano have won once.
PERFECT 10 NOTES
The three 10s scored by the Bruins' Christine Peng-Peng Lee (beam), Felicia Hano (floor) and Katelyn Ohashi (floor)on Feb. 4 were the most in a single meet since three were scored on Mar. 7, 2004 by Jeanette Antolin (vault and floor) and Yvonne Tousek (bars) โฆ Hano and Ohashi became the first pair of Bruins to score back-to-back 10s on floor since Kate Richardson and Antolin on Feb. 22, 2004 โฆ The six 10s were the most in Pauley Pavilion since there were eight scored by five gymnasts at the 2002 UCLA Invitational, including three by UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher โฆ Lee scored her second consecutive perfect 10 on beam, joining Ohashi as the only Bruins ever to record perfect 10s on beam in consecutive meets โฆ Lee has three perfect 10s on beam in her career, one off the school record of four set by Richardson โฆ Lee's five overall perfect 10s is tied for sixth-most in school history โฆ Ohashi becomes just the fourth Bruin ever to score a perfect 10 on both beam and floor, joining Kristen Maloney, Mohini Bhardwaj and Richardson.
HONORING A LEGACY
Felicia Hano's floor exercise routine this season is a legacy routine originally performed by All-American Sydney Sawa in 2014 and passed down to Hano. Sawa scored a perfect 10 on that routine on Feb. 22, 2014 and was, in fact, the last UCLA gymnast to score a perfect 10 on floor until Hano did it with the same routine on Feb. 4, 2018.
BEAMING BRUINS
UCLA has posted scores of 49.525 or higher on beam in its last four meets, scoring 49.525 at Arizona on Jan. 20, vs. Oklahoma on Feb. 4 and at Cal on Feb. 10 and setting a season high with a 49.625 at the Metroplex Challenge. The Bruins' season average is 49.375, good for second in the nation. At Arizona, three Bruins contributed scores of 9.95 - Grace Glenn, Katelyn Ohashi and Christine Peng-Peng Lee. At Metroplex, UCLA counted no score lower than 9.875, with Kyla Ross scoring 9.975 and Lee hitting a perfect 10. At Cal, the Bruins used 9.95s by Glenn and Ohashi and a 9.925 by Madison Kocian to propel their way to another 49.525 despite Ross and Lee sitting out the event. UCLA has three gymnasts in the beam lineup who have scored two perfect 10s each on the event in their careers - Ross, Ohashi and Lee.
FLOORS UP
UCLA's highest season average on any one event is 49.400, on floor exercise. The Bruins have scored 49.4 or higher in four of six meets, with a high of 49.675 set Feb. 4 vs. Oklahoma. That mark was the fifth-highest floor score in school history and the highest since the Bruins scored 39.700 on Mar. 7, 2004. UCLA has three gymnasts ranked in the Top 20 nationally - No. 6 Felicia Hano (9.912), No. 11 Napualani Hall (9.9), and No. 18 Kyla Ross (9.887). Gracie Kramer (No. 26, 9.879) and Katelyn Ohashi (No. 31, 9.870) stand just outside the Top 25. UCLA tumbling on floor has been impressive, with Kramer doing a front double full-punch front, Ross starting with a whip-double back, Hall a 1.5 through to a double back, Hano and Ohashi starting with double layouts, Nia Dennis with a double Arabian and Pauline Tratz with a full-in.
PUA POWER
Senior Napualani Hall has been on a tear on vault, scoring 9.9 or higher in four of her last five meets and 9.95 in her last two meets. She has averaged 9.915 on her last five vaults and stuck her last three in a row. She earned a perfect 10 from one of the two judges and finished with a career-high of 9.95 on Feb. 4 vs. Oklahoma and matched her final score at Cal on Feb. 10 to win the event. She also won floor at Cal in her season debut on the event, scoring a career-high 9.9. Hall leads the team with five Top 3 finishes on vault.
SEEING DOUBLE
Identical twins Anna and Grace Glenn competed in a meet together for the first time as Bruins on Feb. 10 at Cal. Anna made her collegiate competitive debut on vault, scoring 9.8. Grace, who has competed on beam in every meet this year, tied for first place on beam with a career-high-tying 9.95 to capture her second beam victory of the season. Both Anna and Grace sat out all of last season with torn labrums, which were injured on the same skill in preseason.
KOCIAN MAKES QUICK RETURN
Two-time Olympic medalist and three-time World champion Madison Kocian is making her way back to the 2017 form that saw her earn four All-America honors. Kocian, who returned to competition on Jan. 20 after undergoing shoulder surgery in August, has competed in the last four meets on balance beam and scored a season-high 9.925 in the Bruins' last meet at Cal on Feb. 10. Kocian had an impressive freshman campaign despite competing with a torn labrum that she suffered at the 2016 Olympic Trials. She competed in the all-around in all but two meets in 2017 and amassed a total of 16 individual victories, including the NCAA Regional bars and floor titles.
KONDOS FIELD EARNS CAREER WIN 500
UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field surpassed 500 career coaching victories with the Bruins' win at Metroplex Jan. 27. The Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century now holds a career coaching record of 503-119-3 (.807) in 28 years as UCLA's head coach. Kondos Field has won six NCAA Championships and four national coach of the year honors, and in 2010, she became the second active coach ever to be inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's newcomers have been strong this season. Nia Dennis has averaged 39.233 in the all-around, with a high of 39.425 set Feb. 10 at Cal, where she also recorded career-highs on bars (9.9) and beam (9.875). Competing on two events in every meet, Pauline Tratz averages 9.838 on vault and 9.867 on floor. Redshirt freshman Grace Glenn has competed on beam in each meet, averaging 9.838, and won Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honors after scoring a career-high 9.95 at Arizona. Junior transfer Brielle Nguyen tied for second on beam with a 9.825 leadoff routine at Elevate the Stage in her UCLA competitive debut and tied her career-high with a 9.9 vs. Oklahoma. Savannah Kooyman made her competitive debut at the Metroplex Challenge and contributed a clutch 9.825 as the anchor on bars. Kooyman competed in two events at Cal, scoring a career-high 9.875 on bars and 9.825 in her floor debut. Anna Glenn also made her UCLA competitive debut at Cal, scoring 9.8 on vault.
IN THE RANKINGS
After five weeks at No. 4, the Bruins vaulted to No. 2 in the national rankings with an average of 197.346. The Bruins are Top 5 on every event - second on beam, third on bars and floor, and fifth on vault. Christine Peng-Peng Lee is first in the nation on beam and ranks eighth on bars. Kyla Ross ranks in the Top 20 on every event and the all-around, checking in at No. 4 in the all-around, No. 3 on bars, No. 9 on beam, No. 13 on vault and No. 18 on floor. Felicia Hano ranks No. 6 on floor and No. 15 on vault. Katelyn Ohashi is sixth on beam. Napualani Hall debuts at No. 11 on floor.
BY THE NUMBERS
UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 19 meets and 49+ on floor in its last 13 meets โฆ The Bruins have scored 49.525 or better on beam in their last four meets โฆ Sonya Meraz has competed in 44 straight meets, and JaNay Honest has competed in 34 straight โฆ Christine Peng-Peng Lee has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 14 of her last 19 meets and has won beam in her last six meets, dating back to last season โฆ Kyla Ross has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 15 of her last 16 meets โฆ Associate head coach Chris Waller improved to 3-1 in his career as acting head coach when he led the Bruins to a season-opening win over Ohio State as head coach Valorie Kondos Field was out with the flu.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will host Oregon State on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3pm in Pauley Pavilion in a meet that will be televised live on Pac-12 Network.
Players Mentioned
