ERIE, Pa. -- Azusa Pacific overcame a slow start with a strong tumbling finish to erase an early deficit in its National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championships opener and defeat No. 7-seeded Hawai'i Pacific by a five-point margin in Thursday's first-round matchup.
The No. 2-seeded Cougars completed a season sweep over the Sharks to improve to 6-1 on the season heading into Friday's semifinal clash with No. 3-seeded Quinnipiac, scoring 271.675 points to Hawai'i Pacific's 265.985.
In the first meeting between the programs this year, Azusa Pacific never trailed, but the Cougars trailed the entire way until the team event in the regular-season rematch. In Thursday's win, Azusa Pacific faced an overall deficit after three of the six events in the meet, although the Cougars' only event loss was in the Acro event.
What It Means: Azusa Pacific advances to Friday's NCATA semifinals, where it takes on No. 3-seeded Quinnipiac. The teams met in Azusa in March, and the Cougars rallied for the home win by a margin of just 31-hundredths of a point. Azusa Pacific has appeared in the national semifinals in three of the past four seasons.
Top Performances: Azusa Pacific's highest score in the meet was Ashleigh Pitts' aerial tumbling pass, which was scored at 9.900 in the first of three solo tumbling passes. Rachel Shier followed with a 9.750 in the six element pass, which was her first time competing in a solo tumbling heat during her four-year career. Hannah Steffen closed out the tumbling event with a score of 9.675 in open tumbling, helping the Cougars take a lead of 2.35 points into the team event.
Azusa Pacific's acro event score was its lowest of the season, with three heats combining for 27.75 points, but the pyramid event which immediately followed produced three consecutive heats scoring 9.725 or better including a 9.875 score in the synchronized pyramid.
NCATA Championship Central: The 2018 NCATA National Championships are hosted by Gannon University in Erie, Pa. For more information on the 2018 championships, including free live video and schedule information, visit Gannon Athletics and theNCATA.org.
