WACO, Tex. – Azusa Pacific ran into the buzzsaw that is the nine-time defending national champion of acrobatics and tumbling, falling to Baylor by a final of 276.63-241.865 Saturday evening inside the Ferrell Center. 

How It Happened:  Baylor jumped out to an early lead as the Cougars had a few issues in the compulsory heats, allowing the Bears to claim a lead of more than three points after the first event.  Another fall hurt early in the acro event, though the seven-element heat rebounded nicely with a 9.30.  That being said, the Bears had earned a perfect 10.0 in the five-element heat and displayed  new skills in winning the event to add another five points to their lead.

Azusa Pacific scored above a 9 on all three of their pyramid heats to close out the first half, and the open toss team of Erin Schmitt, Emily Sheneman, Martina Klecka, Keelie Adsit, and Kendall Sullivan earned the team's first heat win of the meet with a 9.35.  That would prove to be the highest score the Cougars would earn outside of the team event, however, as the Bears continued to pull away, stretching their lead to 15 points by the end of the toss event.  Baylor won all six tumbling heats, with Sullivan providing the Cougars with their best score of the event with a 9.30 in the aerial pass.  Baylor would complete their performance with a 16-point win in the team event to push the final margin of victory to nearly 35 points.

Baylor has won the last seven meetings head-to-head against Azusa Pacific, and leads the all-time series 10-4.  This was the first time the two teams have squared off since meeting in the 2021 NCATA Championship.

Up Next:  Azusa Pacific (1-1) will be right back on the mats on Monday as they complete their Texas road trip with a three-team meet on Monday.  The Cougars will pay a visit to Texas Lutheran University, where they will face both the host Bulldogs as well as the fifth-ranked Cru of Mary Hardin-Baylor.