GYMNASTICS HOSTS SHOWDOWN AGAINST UC DAVIS ON SUNDAY

3/9/2007

The Sacramento State gymnastics team will continue its postseason push this Sunday, March 11, when the Hornets host UC Davis. The meet against the Aggies will start at 6 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.
   
Sacramento State (10-2) is currently tied for 37th nationally and is sixth in the West Region. The Hornets raised their Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) in last week’s meet against Penn and would qualify for the NCAA postseason if the season ended today. With back-to-back season highs, Sacramento State is looking to make its second consecutive NCAA regional appearance and the third in school history.
   
The Hornets enter this week having won their last five matchups and eight of their past nine. The team’s lone losses this year have come at Southern Utah and Cal State Fullerton.
   
UC Davis has also improved its scores in recent weeks. The Aggies amassed a season-high 192.775 while finishing second in a four-team meet hosted by Boise State. UC Davis defeated both Boise State and Seattle Pacific while losing to Oregon State.
   
Sacramento State has had great success against the Aggies in recent years, winning the last 17 meetings and leading the all-time series, 37-18. The team’s scores also seem to peak when facing UC Davis as eight of the Hornets’ top-10 scores have come in meets where the Aggies were also competing.

A Look at the Last Meet
Sacramento State set season highs on vault and beam en route to recording a season best 193.925 against Penn on Sunday, March 4. The Hornets scored 48.450 on vault and 48.675 on beam against the Quakers. Individually, Melissa Genovese was first on bars, Eryn Stubblefield and Marina Borisova tied for first on beam, and Nicole Giao and Borisova tied for first on floor.

Fun With Numbers
In what has become a yearly tradition, Sacramento State appears to have found its groove late in the year. The Hornets recorded their third consecutive score of at least 193.000 when they tallied a season high 193.925 against Penn. That score, came on the heals of a 193.050 against Alaska Anchorage and a 193.700 at San Jose State and raised Sacramento State’s RQS to 192.760.
   
Last season, the team scored 193-plus in the final seven regular season meets, including back-to-back 195s in the last two dual meets. The year before, the Hornets recorded three straight scores of at least 194.000 to end the year.
   
A team’s RQS is calculated by taking its top six scores, dropping the highest score and averaging the next five. The only catch is that no more than three of the counting scores can come in home meets. Right now, Sacramento State is counting the following scores: 193.700 at San Jose State, 193.050 vs. Alaska Anchorage; 193.000 vs. Boise State; 192.150 at Alaska Anchorage; and 191.900 at Seattle Pacific.

First Time for Everything
Despite being two of the top gymnasts for the Hornets for the past three seasons, juniors Nicole Giao and Melissa Genovese found themselves in an unfamiliar place following the meet against Penn. Giao scored a career best 9.850 to finish in a three-way to for first place on vault, marking the first time she finished first on any event during her collegiate career. The Alta Loma, Calif., native shared the title with teammate Marina Borisova and Penn’s Marissa Rosen.
   
Genovese has claimed the top spot on beam throughout her tenure, however, Sunday was the first time she had won on another event. Like Giao, Genovese scored a career high on bars with a 9.850 to edge teammate Sara Williams who also set a career best (9.825).

Nearly Complete
The overhaul of the Hornet lineup is nearly complete with the return of juniors Tiffany Bass and Alexis Tsurumoto on Sunday. Bass had missed the team’s previous six meets and returned to compete on vault and beam. She responded with a vault of 9.725 to tie for second and tied for eighth on floor with a 9.650.
   
Tsurumoto made her 2007 debut after healing from a broken finger. The Concord, Calif., native exhibitioned on both bars and beam against Penn. On bars, Tsurumoto showed no signs of rust with a 9.825. She also scored 9.650 in her first collegiate beam routine.
   
Bass will likely return to the floor lineup against UC Davis while Tsurumoto will be in the bar rotation.

Doesn’t Add Up
Marina Borisova heads into this weekend ranked among the top two gymnasts in the Western Athletic Conference in three events. Borisova leads the WAC in both bars and floor with RQS’ of 9.825 and 9.845, respectively. She is also tied for second in the league on beam with an RQS of 9.790. However, despite those high rankings, she is fourth in the all-around with an RQS of 38.915.