AZUSA, Calif. -- Energized by its come-from-behind upset the night before, Azusa Pacific stayed with top-seeded Oregon heat-for-heat until the Ducks eventually pulled away in the second half to post a six-point win (277.625 to 271.335) in a Friday night semifinal matchup at the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championships.
The Cougars trailed by just four-tenths of a point at halftime, winning five of the first 10 heats of the meet, but Oregon added to its lead by winning the first eight heats of the second half along with a three-point edge in the team event.
Heather Hovander notched a victory in her solo tumbling heat, winning the open pass by scoring a 9.700, and Ashleigh Pitts also posted the same score in her aerial tumbling pass.
"We faced some adversity throughout the year, where different people were in and out of the lineup, but that ended up making us stronger because other people had to step up," Hovander said. "What brought us all together was our cohesiveness and our unity as one team."
The matchup was Azusa Pacific's fifth appearance in the NCATA semifinals in the last six years, making the Cougar program one of just three NCATA programs to accomplish that level of consistent success. The other two are Oregon and Baylor, who have combined to win all six previous NCATA national titles and will meet again for the 2017 championship Saturday night at the Felix Event Center.
"Even though we struggled at times throughout the season, the talent was there all along and the team was able to show it tonight," Azusa Pacific head coach Colleen Kausrud said. "I believe this sport is 90 percent mental, so the earlier you can get the skills part of it down, you can start working on that mental game. When you get to the championships, that's where the mental part of the game kicks in and allows you to step up and make things happen."
The Cougars posted a meet-high score of 9.85 in the synchronized pyramid, as all three of Azusa Pacific's pyramid heats scored 9.65 or higher. Pitts also led the seven-element acro heat, which also included Hannah Welander, Rachel Shier, and Hannah Steffen, to a score of 9.75 to finish the acro event with a heat victory.
"If we're not having fun, it's probably not going to be a good day, and we went into this meet with nothing to lose and a desire to have fun," said Noelle Miranda, who helped the Cougars to their fast start with a presence in all four compulsory heats in the opening event. "This environment was so much fun, and when it came time to go execute our skills, we just knew we were going to hit them. The last time we saw Oregon (in the regular season), we didn't do as well as we were capable, and keeping it close with them this time showed us what we are capable of."
Azusa Pacific was edged by three-tenths of a point in the compulsory event to open the meet, and Oregon posted another slight advantage of two-tenths in the acro event before the Cougars won the first two heats and tied the third heat of the pyramid event to cut the halftime deficit to four-tenths of a point (95.65 to 95.25).
