Teams: UC Davis at Seattle Pacific
Record: Aggies, 4-1; Falcons, 0-6
Where: Broughman Pavilion – Seattle
When: Friday at 7 p.m.
Who to watch: After almost breaking the school record as a freshman in the all-around, Katie “Yami” Yamamura has big plans for her sophomore year.
“She has come on strong and is making a lot of improvements,” coach John Lavallee said. “She expects herself to do well every turn, every day. She is a fierce competitor and a solid performer.”
Did you know? Currently, UC Davis is tied for 40th place in the National rankings, according to troester.com. Lavallee hopes the Aggies bring their team score up to the top 36, which will earn the team a spot at the NCAA National meet.
Preview: The Aggies’ first three meets have all been decided by five points or less. So needless to say, their upcoming match against Seattle Pacific will be another tight one.
Lavallee is looking forward to the meet for multiple reasons.
“There has long been a rivalry against Seattle Pacific,” Lavallee said. “This year they are stronger than they’ve been the last couple of years. This meet should serve as a good test to see if we can hit the standards we have set for ourselves.”
Last week, UC Davis came away with a win over Fullerton, scoring 191.950. The Falcons fell to Air Force despite posting a season best score of 190.425.
With the two teams as close as they are, Lavallee will be focusing on a few specifics to increase the Aggies’ tally.
“Our goal is to work on some execution deductions and find certain things we can clean up to increase our score,” Lavallee said. “This week we want to make our performance and our amplitude bigger and make our executions better.”
Along with the nuts and bolts of it, Lavallee believes part of UC Davis’ success comes from the level of dedication each gymnast has to the squad.
“Our team is so successful because we are a very tight knit group,” Lavallee said. “You could say it is part of our recipe for success.”
– Caleigh Guoynes
