GYMNASTICS GEARS UP FOR REMATCH AGAINST SAN JOSE STATE, UC DAVIS ON FRIDAY

2/25/2010

OPENING PASS
• Revenge may be the theme for this week’s gymnastics meet at San Jose State. The Spartans will host Sacramento State and UC Davis for a three-team affair which begins at 7 p.m. The teams are no strangers to one another. The Hornets have won two of the three previous meetings this year against SJSU but came up short in their lone matchup against UCD.

• Another week and another high score for Sacramento State. The Hornets continued their streak of raising its season high with a 194.225 effort against San Jose State on Feb. 19. Sacramento State’s total marked the team’s first appearance above the 194-plateau this year.

• San Jose State will offer live stats via their web site (www.sjsuspartans.com). Select the gymnastics page and then choose the option for scoring.

• This week marks the first time that the national rankings use the Regional Qualifying Score system. The Hornets enter the week ranked 39th nationally. San Jose State is 35th and UC Davis is 37th. The top 36 teams at the end of the year will qualify for the postseason.

THE LAST TIME OUT
The Sacramento State gymnastics team jumped to an early lead after the first rotation and never let up on way to recording a season high score of 194.225 in a victory over San Jose State on Feb. 19. The Hornets were helped by seven top three finishes in the four events, including a tie for first on beam by Cayla Boyce and Traci Takeda.

The Hornets opened the meet on vault and tallied a season best 48.400. That score placed the team nearly a point above the Spartans who scored 47.725 on bars. SJSU was able to narrow the gap in the second rotation with a 48.500 on vault compared to Sacramento State’s 48.250 on bars. Sacramento State was able to extend its lead in the third rotation with a season high of 49.000 on beam. The Hornets closed out the competition with a score of 48.575 on floor with all six gymnasts scoring 9.600 or better during the rotation.

BEAM BREAKTHROUGH
It was truly a team effort on beam for the Hornets against San Jose State. All six Sacramento State gymnasts were hit their routines and placed the unit into the school record book. On the night, the Hornets scored a season best 49.000 which also ties the team for fourth place in school history. The unit was led by senoir Traci Takeda and sophomore Cayla Boyce who shared the event title after scoring 9.850. Senior Eryn Stubblefield was just behind the duo at 9.825 to complete the top three sweep by Sacramento State. The team also counted a 9.775 from Lissa Zamolo and Jasmine Lipka and Lizzy Norvell each scored 9.700.

The top nine beam scores in Sacramento State history have now come in the past four years. Last week’s mark was the best by the Hornets since scoring 49.075 against California, UC Davis and Seattle Pacific on March 7, 2008.

MEILLER MAKES HER MOVE
Freshman Nicole Meiller has played a big role in Sacramento State’s recent scoring surge. The Aurora, Ill., native has set or tied her career high on both vault and bars in the last two meets. Meiller’s streak began at Boise State on Feb. 12 where she scored 9.775 on vault and 9.675 on bars. Last week, she was just off her career vault mark with a 9.750 and tied her career high on bars at 9.725.

NEWS & NOTES
• Jamine Lipka is ranked 11th on both beam and floor in the West Region. If the Hornets do not qualify for the postseason as a team, Lipka would advance in both events.
• Sacramento State’s final home meet will come on March 12 against Texas Woman’s.