Ducks Put Together Season-Best Meet

Wednesday, March 8

Eugene, OR

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

278.910

283.305

Baylor

Photo by: Molly McPherson

03/08/23 | Acrobatics & Tumbling

Meet Results Photo Gallery

Oregon went toe-to-toe with No. 1 Baylor on Wednesday, recording new season highs in five of six events of a narrow loss to the Bears.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — A matchup of top-five teams lived up to its billing Wednesday at Matthew Knight Arena, with No. 5 Oregon putting together its best performance of the season in a narrow acrobatics and tumbling loss to top-ranked Baylor, 283.305-278.910.

Though the Ducks (3-1) suffered their first loss of the spring, they put together season-best performances in five of six events Wednesday. Five days after an uneven performance in a win over Gannon, Oregon raised its total score by more than 20 points and went toe-to-toe with the seven-time national champions.

"For the most part we did a really good job just kind of focusing on us," UO coach Taylor Susnara said. "The crowd tonight was awesome, and sometimes it's easy to get distracted. But they did a good job. Baylor being No. 1 and the score differential being that close, that was encouraging for sure."

Oregon's total score of 278.910 exceeded the Ducks' previous season high of 272.510 from a win over Azusa Pacific on Feb. 17. The UO team score Wednesday exceeded Baylor's from two of the Bears' previous three meets this season.

How It Happened: The tone for the meet was set right off the bat. Baylor took an early lead with a score of 38.95 in the compulsory event, despite the Ducks putting together their best event score of the season, 38.65. That included a 9.90 in the toss for Oregon from athletes Italie Macchiavello, Karly Nowak, Blessyn McMorris, Lindsey Tarr, Alexis Estrada, Alena Aucker, Sydney Szarka, Alexis Weller, Makena Carrion, Emilie Henningsen and Caelin Niebergall.

Oregon's second season-best of the evening came in the second event, a 28.80 in acro. In three previous meets involving three acro heats each, the Ducks had one score as high as 9.70; they had two in three heats Wednesday, from the 5 element group of Nowak, Weller, Bailee Lamson and Bethany Glick, and the 7 element group, including McMorris, Weller, Carrion and Tarr.

Baylor led 68.450-67.450 through two events, and the Bears extended the lead to 98.250-96.400 through the pyramid event. That was the one event Wednesday in which Oregon didn't record a new season best. However, the open heat saw the Ducks score 9.95 from the quintet of Szarka, McMorris, Carrion, Tarr and Estrada.

The toss event ended with Baylor leading 127.850-125.200, with Oregon getting a 9.80 in the 450 Salto heat from Macchiavello, Nowak, McMorris, Tarr and Estrada. The Ducks then pushed the Bears in a tightly contested tumbling event, with Baylor ultimately edging Oregon in the event, 57.975-57.450. The Ducks had season-best tumbling passes from Haley Ellis, Riley Watson and Rachel Furlong in the trio pass (9.30), from the quartet of Aucker, Mallory Kent, Camille Mantoani and Emma Keogh in the quad pass (9.15), and from Furlong in the 6 element pass (9.875).

That put Baylor up 185.825-182.650, and the Bears scored 97.480 in the team event. Oregon again put together a season high, capping the meet with a team score of 96.260.

Quotable:
UO head coach Taylor Susnara on events that stood out Wednesday
"I was really impressed with our acro event. That's kind of an area we've struggled with a little bit, and our scores were much better than they have been. So I'm really proud of them for kind of keeping their cool in that one."

UO head coach Taylor Susnara on shuffling the lineup after an injury last week
"Mallory Kent, she stepped in and she did an awesome job. She was in the tumbling event and team event, and she did fantastic."

Up Next: The Ducks can focus on the conclusion of the winter quarter before returning to the mat April 1 with a rematch at Baylor.