GYMNASTICS BACK AT THE NEST TO FACE SEATTLE PACIFIC

2/7/2008

The Sacramento State gymnastics team will look for a bit of home cooking this week as the team welcomes Seattle Pacific into the Hornets Nest on Friday at 7 p.m. The Hornets enter the meet with a 2-3 overall record after finishing second in a triangular meet against San Jose State and Wisconsin-Stout. Sacramento State scored 191.450 in the meet while host SJSU posted 192.525 and UW-Stout recorded a 179.000.

In the meet, freshman Alycia Chan finished first on vault and senior Melissa Genovese won the individual title on beam. The Hornets had great success as a team in those two events, scoring at least 48.250 in both rotations, but struggled on bars and floor.

The team is currently ranked 42nd nationally in the lastest rankings. However, the team is less than 0.8 points away from BYU which holds the 36th spot (the top 36 teams at the end of the seasons will advance to the NCAA regionals). The rankings are currently being sorted by season average but will switch to the regional qualifying score formula later in the year.

Seattle Pacific is 1-4 on the season. The Falcons defeated Springfield in their season opener but have fallen to UC Davis (twice), Southern Utah and San Jose State. The team is coached by Laurel Tindall, who is in her 32nd year at SPU.

Sacramento State leads the all-time series between the two teams, 28-17. The Hornets have won eight of the last nine meetings and have not lost at home to the Falcons since 2002.

Pick and Choose
Sacramento State has shown the ability to be successful in all four events over the last two weeks. The catch, however, is that the team has not been able to put it all together in one meet. Beginning in the first meeting against San Jose State on Jan. 25, the Hornets scored a season high 48.700 on bars and 48.450 on floor. One week later at SJSU, Sacramento State scored 48.250 on vault and 48.975 on beam. Those four scores combine for a total of 194.375 which would easily be the team’s season best.

It’s Chan-tastic
Freshman Alycia Chan recorded a career best 9.825 to win the vault competition last week at San Jose State. Chan’s mark was .025 points better than the Spartans’ Raylyn Cardeno who finished second. The win for Chan was the second for the Langley, B.C., native during her short career. She also took the top prize in her first collegiate meet against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 13.

Balancing Act
Last Friday, Sacramento State scored a season best 48.975 and received some help from some unlikely sources. Sophomore Traci Takeda, who has emerged as the team’s new leadoff performer after the injury to Lissa Zamolo, recorded a career beste 9.700 to get things going. Chan followed with a 9.625 and was backed up by sophomores Lizzy Norvell and Eryn Stubblefield who both posted 9.825. Borisova scored 9.725 in the fifth spot and Genovese completed the rotation.

Norvell and Takeda were both club teammates at Clovis Academy in Clovis, Calif. Neither gymnast was a consistent contributor during their freshmen seasons but both have rallied during the 2008 campaign. Norvell is now averaging 9.538 and has two scores of at least 9.825.

You Can’t Keep Her Down
After an uncharacteristic fall on beam at home against San Jose State, senior Melissa Genovese bounced back with a victory at SJSU on Feb. 1. Genovese tied her season high with a 9.875 to record her second win of the year. Finishing first is nothing new for the El Dorado Hills, Calif., native. Last season, she won the WAC title on beam and won five other meets.