Coming off its best meet of the season, the Sacramento State gymnastics team will look to remain unbeaten against Western Athletic Conference competition as it takes on San Jose State on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.

The Hornets enter the meet with a 6-8 overall record but have posted a 6-2 mark in its last three meets. The team scored a season-high 192.500 at the California Quad on Feb. 10 to finish second. National power UCLA won the team competition with a score of 196.500. Cal was third at 190.850 while UC Davis scored 190.300 to finish fourth.

The victory over the Golden Bears was the first for Sacramento State at Berkeley since the 2002 season. The win over the Aggies gave the Hornets 1.25 points in the Causeway Cup and extended the team’s winning streak to 13 matches over UC Davis.

San Jose State is 8-5 on the year and has won its last five matchups. Last week, the Spartans easily defeated Seattle Pacific, 192.450-190.200, in Seattle. In the meet, freshman Renae Moneymaker finished first on floor (9.800) and in the all-around (38.800).

The two teams have met one other time this season, with the Hornets defeating San Jose State, 191.525-190.575, at the Stanford Quad on Jan. 15. The schools will also compete against one another on Mar. 10 in San Jose, Calif., and on Mar. 25 at the WAC Championships in Logan, Utah.

Sacramento State leads the all-time series, 30-17-1, and has won the last three meetings.

• Bar Hopping

After a slow start to the season in which the team did not score better than 47.300 in its first two meets, Sacramento State has worked out the kinks on bars and is now in top form. The Hornets have scored above 48.000 in each of the last three meets, including a season high 48.600 on Saturday at Cal.

In the meet, sophomore Alexis Tsurumoto and senior Kimiye Narasaki recorded the top two scores on the team this season. Tsurumoto finished in a five-way tie for first place after tallying a 9.875 which matched Cal’s Joanna Bennett and UCLA’s Ashley Pickett, Kristina Comforte and Kate Richardson.

The first place-finish was the ninth for Tsurumoto in her two year career. The Concord, Calif., native won seven meets in 2005, including the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title.

Narasaki was sixth overall after tying her career high of 9.850 which came during the 2004 season.

The Hornets also received a boost from freshman Amber Basgall who hit for the first time this season. A former level 10 state champion, Basgall scored a career-best 9.725 to finish 12th.

• More on Morari

The last 12 months have been a roller-coaster ride for senior Brooke Morari. In 2005, she was a member of the Eastern Michigan team and competed in nine of the team’s 12 meets. After transferring to Sacramento State in the fall, Morari earned a spot in the lineup for the first meet of the year. At the Aloha Gymfest, she fell on vault and ended with a score of 8.925. The following week, she was declared academically ineligible and missed the team’s next three meets.

Morari returned in the Cal Quad last week and produced two strong routines. On vault, she anchored the lineup and tied for the team high with a 9.725. On floor, she was first in the lineup and scored 9.525.

• In the Vault

For the second straight meet, the Hornets had a balanced attack on the vault. At Cal, all six vaulters scored at least 9.600 and helped the team to a season high 48.475. Behind Morari was Narasaki at 9.725 and Basgall with a career best 9.700. The team also received a 9.675 from Marina Borisova, a 9.650 from Nicole Giao and a 9.600 from Carrie Kinghorn.

• Bounding Borisova

Freshman Marina Borisova continued her development last week at Cal. The Sacramento, Calif., native competed in three events for the team and had her score count in each event. On vault, Borisova tied for 13th with a 9.675. After exhibitioning on bars, she scored 9.550 on beam which tied for ninth. Borisova ended the night by leading the team on floor with a 9.825. Her score placed her fifth and made her the highest finisher not from UCLA.

Borisova’s season average of 9.767 currently leads the WAC.

• News & Notes

Sophomore Tiffany Bass did not compete in the Cal meet due to an injured foot. She is expected to return this week against San Jose State…the team’s floor score of 48.875 against Cal State Fullerton and Alaska Anchorage currently ranks second in the WAC…despite being the only team to own an undefeated WAC record, Sacramento State is not well represented in the conference stats. The Hornets are fifth in team high score, vault, bars and beam and second on floor.

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