Ducks Dazzle on Senior Night

Saturday, April 8

Azusa, Calif.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

288.08

277.28

Azusa Pacific

04/08/17 | Acrobatics & Tumbling

By: Erin Kunesh

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling team defeated the Azusa Pacific Cougars Saturday night at Matthew Knight Arena 288.08 – 277.28.

Oregon's score of 288.08 is the fifth best total in program history, and third highest against the Cougars.

With the win, the Ducks are 6-1 overall, and 4-0 at home this season. Azusa Pacific moves to 2-3 overall, 1-2 away.

En route to keeping their undefeated record at home this season, the Ducks swept all the events and claimed 14 heats, while tying two. The Cougars scored higher in three heats on the night.

How it Happened: The Ducks, celebrating senior night and the final meet of the regular season, came out motivated to perform with pride for the senior class. That they did, sweeping the Compulsory and Acro events - eight heats in a row.

The Cougars were able to score higher in the heat two of the Pyramid event – synchronized – with a 9.75 over the Ducks' 9.70. APU then turned in a 9.95, the highest score of the night up until that point in heat three – open. Despite notching back-to-back heat wins, the Ducks would claim the Pyramid event with a 29.40 – 29.35.

In the Toss event, the Ducks opened with a 9.80 in the 2-Element, followed by tying with APU in the Synchronized toss with 9.55s. In the Open toss, the Ducks notched a perfect ten thanks to the performance by Alexis Cross, Blaire Wilson, Taylor Galvin, Jalen Kirkland, Sabrina Peyton, and Mari Yacoubian.

In the Tumbling event, the Ducks and Cougars tied in the Open pass with scores of 9.775 performed by Krista Phillips and Ashleigh Pitts, respectively. In the duo pass, APU earned a 9.40 to Oregon's 9.20 for one of their three heat wins of the night. With four heat win, the Ducks earned a 57.525 - 55.150.

In the Team event, Oregon's high-energy routine couldn't be outdone, as the Ducks' earned a 103.75 – the second highest event score of the season.

What it Means: Oregon's score of 288.08 is the fifth best total in program history, and third highest against the Cougars.

The Ducks went undefeated at home this season with an unblemished 4-0 record. The team's only loss this season came at the hands of the Baylor Bears in Waco (4/2/17).

Oregon has only lost the Tumbling and Team events once this season, also in Waco.

The Team event score of 103.75 is the Ducks' second highest of the season.

Quotes: - Chelsea Shaw, Head Coach

On the meet and performance…
"I think we've made some improvements that we wanted to make in terms of getting a full, complete, good meet. We make a lot of changes this week and sometimes that can feel a little chaotic when they are competing it for the first time, but I thought they did really well."

On the thinking behind the changes made…
"Just to score higher. We want to score higher. So we're figuring out how we can get better skills to get less deductions, and then for them to go out feeling confident and strong. We take the judges feedback and what we get in our heat summary as coaches to try to make the best changes we can."

On Alexis Cross's leadership…
"Cross is a great leader and she does that on her own. She kind of rallies the team and gets them fired up."

Hannah Lichtenthaler, Senior

On being a senior…
"All-in-all, this team is incredible and it's been an honor being here. I definitely would not choose any other school besides Oregon, and I've enjoyed all four years here."

On the changes made for today's meet…
"We did change some things this week. It was cool to see the scores grow from that and to see how well we'd do before the natty."

Alexis Cross, Junior

On the saying goodbye to the seniors…
"It's hard, but the good thing is we still have some season left. We still have the national championship which is super exciting. This class though is amazing in so many ways."

On the perfect ten…
"That was just awesome to put up there for the rest of our teammates. We talked a lot about coming out with pride today, so being able to get that for the team was huge."

Compulsory Scores
Acro – Oregon: 9.75, APU: 9.20
Pyramid – Oregon: 9.90, APU: 9.80
Toss – Oregon: 9.90, APU: 9.60
Tumbling – Oregon: 9.15, APU: 8.60
Event Winner: Oregon: 38.70, APU: 37.20

Acro Scores
5-Element – Oregon: 9.75, APU: 9.70
6-Element – Oregon: 9.85, APU: 9.65
7-Element – Oregon: 9.75, APU: 9.25
Event Winner: Oregon: 29.35, APU: 28.60

Pyramid Scores
Inverted – Oregon: 9.80, APU: 9.65
Synchronized – APU: 9.75, Oregon: 9.70
Open – APU: 9.95, Oregon: 9.90
Event Winner: Oregon: 29.40, APU: 29.35

Toss Scores
460 Salto – Oregon: 9.80, APU: 9.70
Synchronized – Oregon: 9.55, APU: 9.55
Open – Oregon: 10.00, APU: 28.95
Event Winner: Oregon: 126.80, APU: 124.10

Tumbling Scores
Duo – APU: 9.40, Oregon: 9.20
Trio – Oregon: 9.55, APU: 7.85
Quad – Oregon: 9.30, APU: 8.75
Aerial – Oregon: 9.80, APU: 9.70
6-Element – Oregon: 9.90, APU: 9.675
Open – Oregon: 9.775, APU: 9.775
Event Winner: Oregon: 57.525, APU: 55.15

Team Routine Scores
Oregon: 103.75
Azusa Pacific: 98.03

Final Meet Score – 288.08 – 277.28, Oregon

Looking Ahead: With the close of the regular season coming to a close after Saturday, Oregon will set their sights on the NCATA national championship held April 27-29 in Azusa, Calif.

Follow the Ducks: Follow all of the University of Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling team action both on and off the mat. Make sure to follow @OregonAcroTumb on Twitter. Also follow the team on Facebook by "liking" Oregon Ducks Acrobatics and Tumbling and following @OregonAcroTumb on Instagram. Go further by adding @oregonacrotumbl on Snapchat for behind-the-scenes looks at practice, team events, and competitions.

#GoDucks