Teams: UC Davis vs. Seattle Pacific
Where: The Pavilion
When: Friday at 7 p.m.
Who to watch: Faced with the toughest competition of the season by far, freshman Erika Van Dyke – who had an average of 9.675 on floor until Sunday – responded by posting a career-high 9.800 against Stanford and Oregon State.
“The meet felt really great,” Van Dyke said. “I really tried to focus on clean landings and keeping my technique up throughout the whole routine. I really enjoy doing floor.“
Aided greatly by Van Dyke’s career-high score and a stellar 9.850 by senior co-captain Andi Dolinsky, the Aggies posted a 48.825 on floor, their highest of the season.
Did you know? The Aggies are ranked first in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on bars, beam, floor and – unsurprisingly – overall. Seattle Pacific sits at No. 2 in the conference, but with a regional qualifying score of over two points lower than the Aggies.
Preview: When the Aggies faced SPU at Seattle two weeks ago, it was utter domination. Odds are the Falcons could suffer a similar fate on Friday.
Both UC Davis and SPU are coming off season-high scores from last weekend – 191.550 and 189.275, respectively – so both teams should come out firing. Add to that the rivalry that has seen these two teams combine for the last three MPSF titles, and you have the recipe for one amazing meet.
“We’ll be charged up and ready to come out,“ coach John Lavallee said.
As the season is now more than halfway done, the Aggies are not only looking to get another dominating win, but also to post some high scores to increase their RQS. Junior Lida Gehlen (bars) and Dolinsky (floor) are the two highest ranked Aggies in the West Region, sitting at No. 12 and 13, respectively.
Friday’s home meet is a good opportunity to meet both these goals.
“I just want everyone to know that we are a great team,” Van Dyke said. “Each weekend we go out there we’ve been improving and we just hope to show what we can do as a team.“
– Alex Wolf-Root
