EUGENE, Ore. – Azusa Pacific's acrobatics and tumbling team saw their season come to an end one round before they would have liked, falling to Gannon University by a final of 267.345-262.245 Friday evening at Matthew Knight Arena in the NCATA semifinals.
How It Happened: The Cougars had a rougher start than the previous day, with a couple of bobbles in the compulsory tumbling heat that handed Gannon a lead of over two points over the event. The Cougars earned a narrow win in the compulsory pyramid heat, but still trailed 37.725-35.5. In the acro event, the Cougars' three All-Americans, Hannah Alonzo, Jacie Van de Zilver, and Jessica Gill, along with base Madiha Morris, went to work, winning all three heats, including a pair of 9.80s in the 5-element and 6-element heats, shaving half a point off the deficit.
The Golden Knights, however, were out for a measure of revenge against the only team to defeat them during the regular season. Gannon came back with a pair of wins in the pyramid event, extending their lead back to two and a quarter points, 95.975-93.725. Coming out of halftime, the Cougars again won the first heat of the toss event, but Gannon won the final two heats and added three-tenths to their lead over the course of the event.
In the tumbling event, while Azusa Pacific won four of the six heats, Gannon again added to their margin, thanks largely to a margin of over a point on the trio tumbling pass. Sarah Lang and Mckenna Dawson both came through with scores of 9.85 in their solo tumbling heats, but the Cougars were still trailing by more than three points entering the team event. The Golden Knights again took the event, their fifth of the evening, by a margin of 87.22-85.37, sending Gannon to the finals for the first time ever.
By the Numbers: The Cougars won 10 out of 20 heats on the evening. Azusa Pacific has reached at least the semifinals at the NCATA nationals nine times in the last ten tournaments, including the last five in a row, a streak only matched by Baylor. The Cougars finish the 2022 season with a record of 6-2, their most victories in a single season since 2018, when they also went 6-2, earned the #2 seed, and reached the semifinals.
Up Next: While the Cougars will not be competing for the team championship, they still have qualified for 11 of the 15 event finals. Those will take place Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
