WACO, Texas – Azusa Pacific returned to rarified air they have not reached in seven years Thursday afternoon at the NCATA national championships, winning 18 out of 20 heats en route to defeating 4
th-seeded Hawai'i Pacific by a final score of 273.165-260.400, advancing to the championship final for the second time in program history.
How It Happened: The top-seeded Cougars came out firing on all cylinders, winning all four heats of the compulsory event, highlighted by a season-best 9.95 in the toss heat. Azusa Pacific would put up 38 points in the compulsory event, their highest total in the event all year, and lead by nearly a point and a half. The acro event saw the Cougars' excellent start continue, putting up a 9.925 in the five-element heat, and scoring at least a 9.725 on every heat in the event, pushing their advantage to just over two points. Azusa Pacific's run of impressive scores continued in the pyramid event, recording scores of 9.90 on both the inverted and open heats, stretching the Cougars' lead at intermission to just over three full points, at 97.075-93.975. The Cougars had the higher score in all ten heats in the first half of the meet.
The toss event provided yet another sweep for the Cougars, as the top seed put up 28.725 over the three heats, building their lead to exactly five points. The tumbling event was the closest event of the meet, as the Sharks won two heats. But the Cougars still added just over half a point to their lead, highlighted by a season-best 9.95 from
Jessica Gill in the six-element tumbling pass, to go along with a 9.875 from NCATA All-American
Beth Magee in the aerial pass. A clean team performance was enough to win the team event by seven points, providing the final margin.
What They Said: "These girls have faced a lot of adversity to get to this point and come out with the win and showcase all their talent. So I'm really pleased with their performance today, and I think that tomorrow is our time to peak." – Coach
Kara Willard
"It means so much. We get to be where we are and love what we do. And we made a deep bond with our team going through so much and that's really brought us to how successful we are now, and it's amazing." –
Jessica Gill on continuing the season for one more meet
"We've talked at practice about how it is a really big advantage to be able to compete at the right time. Sometimes with a long training season, you kind of hit a lull where you're doing the same thing every day. It's a really good time to practice consistency." –
Beth Magee on if there have been any advantages to dealing with the unique circumstances under which the 2021 season has taken place.
"We've been calling our competition glorified practice, and these girls are so locked in at practice, and we carry that into meets. We're not going to do anything differently. Yes, we're on a bigger stage, but that doesn't change their skill; that doesn't change their start value; it doesn't change the jerseys that they're wearing." – Coach Willard on approaching tomorrow's final
What's Next: Azusa Pacific (4-0) will play again tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Central (5:00 p.m. Pacific) against the tournament host and No. 2-seed Baylor for a shot at its first-ever national championship. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+.
