No. 2 Ducks Face No. 1 Baylor In Clash Of The Titans Saturday

EUGENE, Ore. - One of the NCATA's most prolific rivalries, the No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team will travel to No. 1 Baylor for their first of two meetings this season on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. PT. The Ducks and the Bears have met in the NCATA Championships the last three seasons running, with Baylor claiming the top prize each time.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The meet will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports Southwest-Plus with a paid subscription. For updates throughout the meet follow @OregonAcroTumb.

The Six Events
Compulsory – Oregon and Baylor have had a chokehold on the NCATA Championship ever since the inception of the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association in 2011. The Ducks earned the first four straight national titles, with Baylor winning the past three seasons.

Acro – The Ducks continued to improve on their already high marks in the acro event during their last outing against Hawai'i Pacific, recording a 29.55 in the event. After opening the event with a 9.75, Oregon raised the bar in the final two heats recording a 9.85 followed by a whopping 9.95 in the final heat. Seniors Alexis Cross and Taylor Galvin along with freshman Calyx Hampton secured UO's first 9.95 in the seven element acro since the Ducks faced Baylor in March 2016. The Ducks' 29.55 event score is tied for the third highest score in program history.

Pyramid – The Pyramid event marked UO's second of three straight events scoring a 29.00 or better against Hawai'i Pacific. Between the acro, pyramid and toss events, Oregon earned 88.15 points out of a possible 89.8, leaving less than one point on the mat in each of the three events.

Toss - This Saturday's meet will be another chapter in the two program's heated rivalry. UO won the first of three meets against Baylor last season, snapping a six-meet losing streak to the Bears. Baylor is the only active program to have beaten the Ducks more than once, recording eight of UO's 11 losses in program history. Despite that, Oregon still holds a 12-8 series lead over the Bears.

Tumbling – The Ducks showed considerable improvement in the tumbling event against Hawai'i Pacific, rasing their overall score by nearly five full points. UO's highest improvements came in the triple and quad tumbling passes. After scoring a 7.90 and 6.50, respectively, in its first meet at CUW, Oregon gained almost two full points in each heat against HPU scoring a 9.30 and 8.95.

Team – Throughout the first two weeks of the 2018 season, the Ducks have earned three of the six NCATA weekly awards, including back-to-back player of the week nods. Senior Taylor Galvin was named the first NCATA Player of the Week this season at the beginning of February, with junior Casi Jackson winning the award the following week. New to this year's weekly awards are freshman and specialist of the week. After earning honorable mention accolades the first week, Oregon took home specialist of the week honors in senior Annelyse Robinson, thanks to her performance against Hawai'i Pacific in which she averaged a 9.80 across all five heats in which she participated.

SCOUTING REPORT
The three-time NCATA National Champions and current No. 1 ranked team, Baylor, is 3-0 on the year heading into Saturday's meet. The Bears opened the season with a win over Alderson-Broaddus, before hitting the road for victories over CUW and No. 4 Quinnipiac. Led by former UO head coach Felecia Mulkey, Baylor is 30-1 over the last three seasons, with their only loss coming against the Ducks last season. BU returned only one of their three All-Americans from last season in senior Lauren Sturm, losing 2017's Most Outstanding Player of the year, Kiara Nowlin to graduation.

POLL POSITION
For the third straight season, the Ducks are ranked second in the NCATA Coaches Poll. The Ducks were six points shy of three-time reigning NCATA national champion Baylor, which was ranked first. Oregon received six first-place votes, with the Bears receiving the remaining 11. All but one of UO's opponents this season are ranked in the top 10 with Quinnipiac fourth, Hawai'i Pacific fifth and Gannon sixth.

THE 2018 SCHEDULE
The acro team will host three home meets this season, including a tri-meet with Quinnipiac and Gannon on March 11. In addition to the tri-meet, the Ducks will participate in home-and-home series with Hawai'i Pacific, Coach Won's former school, as well as three-time defending national champions Baylor. This year's NCATA National Championships will take place from April 26-28 in Erie, Pa.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
If the past is any indication, the Ducks will have a big edge in their three home meets this season. In the seven years since joining the NCATA, the Ducks are 28-2 all-time when competing at Matthew Knight Arena. This includes being the overall winner in five home tri-meets as well as hosting the 2011 NCATA National Championships. Oregon's only two losses at home have both come against Baylor in 2015 and 2016. The Ducks snapped their two-meet home losing streak against the Bears last season, winning the first of three matchups with the Bears.

STORIED HISTORY
Since the NCATA's inception in 2011, the Ducks have won four of seven NCATA National Championships. The Ducks have reached the national championship finals all seven years, recording second-place finishes the past three seasons in a row. In that seven-year span, UO has a 65-11 meet record, including a total of 40 individual event titles and 17 All-Americans.

#CREATE IT
This season marks a new attitude for the Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling team under its motto 'Create It.' The idea behind the expression is that in order to have success, you must create it for yourself. The team's actions, attitudes and dedication, both on and off the mat, will be the building blocks to acheiving the Ducks' goal of bringing the NCATA National Championship back to Eugene.

UP NEXT
Following Saturday's meet, the Ducks will host both Quinnipiac and Gannon in their only tri-meet of the season Sunday, Mar. 11, at 2 p.m. PT.