Teams: UC Davis at California; vs. San Jose State
Record: Aggies, 2-0; Golden Bears, 0-6; Spartans, 1-1
Where: Haas Pavilion – Berkeley, Calif.
When: Saturday at 7 p.m.
Who to watch: With her outstanding performance last Sunday, senior Marcy Miller scored the first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week award for 2011.
The Huntington Beach, Calif. local won the individual all-around with a career high 38.775 in last weekend’s matchup against San Jose State and Alaska Anchorage.
“As [Miller] has gone from a freshman to a senior, she has had steady progress,” coach John Lavallee said. “Her performance Sunday was stellar. She’s done a good job getting strong and honing her skills.”
Did you know? Four gymnasts made their UC Davis debuts in the meet, including freshmen Anna Shumaker (vault, bars), Madeline Kennedy (vault), Regi Solvkjar (beam exhibition) and Lauren Eller, who sat out the 2010 season due to injury, led off the beam and floor lineups.
The Aggies topped San Jose State last weekend at home.
Preview: Brushing away the jitters from their first meet, the Aggies are ready to hit the floor again.
“Our goal this weekend is to have more hit routines,” Lavallee said. “We stumbled a few more times than we wanted to. We’d like to have a little more confidence on the floor.”
Lavallee said the team was a bit apprehensive at the last meet because it was their first competitive meet in nine months.
“We plan to adjust emotional levels to execution deductions,” Lavallee said.
To say this weekend’s triangular meet will be close might be an understatement.
UC Davis narrowly triumphed over the Spartans with a score of 191.6 to 191.3.
Last weekend, California earned a score of 191.675 in the Pac-10 Showcase – and still finished seventh out of seven.
With the three teams very evenly matched this weekend, Lavallee knows the team will have to be precise and focused.
“We’re really down to which team can perform under pressure,” Lavallee said. “And we’re all fighting for a spot at Regional Championships.”
– Caleigh Guoynes
