The sports stereotype is that a team doesn’t play as well on the road.
That wasn’t the case for the UC Davis women’s gymnastics team this past weekend as they scored their highest team total of the year for a road meet.
Up against the stiffest competition in the nation, UC Davis scored their highest total, 192.950, for any away event this year. Because of the strong field, the Aggies came in fourth and move to 8-6 on the year.
In a small, crowded gym with over four thousand screaming fans, the energy resounded from the stands to the floor.
Despite the fourth place finish, coach John Lavallee was very proud of his team’s performance.
“This was a really big meet and a great moment for UC Davis athletics,” Lavallee said. “I’m extremely happy with the results. We didn’t count a fall on any event.”
UC Davis was only a tenth of a point away from beating San Jose State, a team ranked 29th in the nation. This was the fourth time the Spartans and Aggies have met on the floor, with the San Jose State topping UC Davis two out of the three times.
Despite coming up short, Lavallee believes topping a higher ranked team would have been great.
“We would have caused quite the uproar to beat a team ranked that high,” he said.
Many Aggies came away with impressive scores from the judges.
With a score of 9.800 on her floor exercise, sophomore Michelle Ho captured the highest score of the night for that event.
Junior Erika Van Dyke landed a score of 9.775 on the balance beam to tie for fifth. Senior Marcy Miller achieved an all-around score of 38.650, good for fifth overall.
With only three more meets in the season, the Aggies looks to climb up the rankings at least two spots to secure a place at NCAA Regionals. Currently, UC Davis sits at 38th, but only the top 36 will make it to Regionals.
Lavallee believes that as long as the Aggies give it their all, they have a shot of qualifying for regionals.
“We are going to work hard to finish up there,” Lavallee said. “It’s always a battle for those on the bubble. But all we can really worry about is putting our best 24 routines out there every time.”
UC Davis returns home next weekend for a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation dual with Seattle Pacific on Friday.
CALEIGH GUOYNES can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
