It’s Mary Emma again at the Fitzgerald Field House for the final time this season. It’s senior night for the Panthers, so they will want to send them off on a high note.
Pittsburgh and West Virginia are meeting for the third time this season (and the second time in less than a week). West Virginia has come out on top both of the meets so far, so Pitt will be looking to end that streak.
West Virginia had a great meet on three events on Sunday, but unfortunately having to count a fall on beam held the total back. The Mountaineers will want to get a good road score here to keep from falling behind when RQS kicks in and lower ranked teams can drop their low scores. Since Morgantown and Pittsburgh are close, it’s almost a home meet for them.
Pitt broke 49 on bars for the first time last week after struggling on the event in the beginning of the season. The Panthers will be looking to continue that momentum and record a good score for RQS.
Ball State has not been getting much attention this season but had a school record on vault a couple of weeks ago, so that will be an event to look out for.
Fun fact: The Cardinals have the most 10.0 start vaults than any team here with two (a tucked Yurchenko one and a half from Marissa Nychyk and a handspring front double full from Arden Hudson). The only other 10.0 is West Virginia’s Kirah Koshinski’s Yurchenko one and a half.
Rotation 1
Pitt: vault, Ball State: bars, West Virginia: beam
Spivey (Pitt) – y full with a step back
Linnen (WVU) – front aerial to BHS solid, very solid so far, and sticks dismount. Great leadoff!
Hudson (BSU) – nice shaposh to bail (little short), small step back on dismount
Miller (Pitt) – sticks y full, but a little short
Hornung (WVU) – good front aerial to BHS, little bit tetative on splits, tries to hang onto the stick but steps forwerd
Herbine (Pitt) – y half with a step forward
Brechwald (Pitt) – y full with a hop back
Bochenek (Pitt) – y full with a step back
Koshinski (WVU) – missed the beginning, small wobble on leap series, and a small step on the dismount
Petrikis (Pitt) – big y full with a small hop back
Penny (BSU) – nice piked jaeger! handstands look good from what I can tell, and sticks dismount
Abarca (WVU) – good full turn to start, slight wobble on series but covers, nice side aerial, didn’t see if she stuck her dismount or not but I think it was hit. Actually maybe her hand went down based on the score she got
Sell (WVU) – good series, got distracted and missed the rest of the routine lol, but small step on dismount
After 1: Pitt 49.050, WVU 48.625, Ball State 48.475
Beam scoring seems to be tight because, from what I saw WVU did better on beam than the scores showed. Pitt broke 49 on vault for the first time this season! And Ball State looks to have had 6 hit routines on bars. Good start for all three teams.
Rotation 2
Bochenek (Pitt) – good gienger, a little leg sep, step forward on dismount
Linnen (WVU) – good front double full, beautiful splits! beautiful rudi to LOSO. Great routine!
Miller (Pitt) – good piked jaeger, little leg sep on bail, step on full in dismount
Kaufman (WVU) – good double pike to open, 1.5 to front lay is good, just avoids going OOB, and a little short on double back to close.
Brechwald (Pitt) – good jaeger, nice on bail, small step on dismount
Hudson (BSU) – beautiful side aerial to BHS series, sticks dismount
Dugan (Pitt) – good gienger, bail is good, sticks dismount
Fontaine (WVU) – good double back, good second pass, I love the Star Wars theme of this routine, she looks like she’s having so much fun! and a good rudi to close
Brett (Pitt) – little close on gienger, good bail, sticks DLO dismount!
Hornung (WVU) – great double pike, good on second pass, leaps are very nice, and a great 1.5 to front lay to clsoe
Collins (Pitt) – great bail, good on tkatchev, small step on double back dismount
Tun (WVU) – great full in to open, solid whip to double back, and a nice rudi to close. Excellent routine!
Koshinshi (WVU) – great DLO to open, splits are great! 1.5 to front lay is great, here’s where she has lots of fun with her choreography, and a solid double pike to close
After 3: Pitt 97.950, WVU 97.625, Ball State 97.325
Scoring on floor also seems to be tight. My eyebrows went up at several of those WVU scores. Pitt had another good bars rotation and is on pace for a season high. Ball State also had a good routine on beam, highlighted by Hudson’s 9.875!
Rotation 3
Brechwald (Pitt) – solid front aerial to BHS, nice leaps, good front toss, couldn’t see dismount but looked like a hit
Hornung (WVU) – y full with a small hop back
Merwin (WVU) – y half with a small hop back
Robatin (Pitt) – great series, wobble on leaps but saves it, great front toss to scale, step on dismount
Waldron (WVU) – y full with a small shuffle back
Tun (WVU) – sticks y full!
Kaufman (WVU) – y full with a small slide
Brett (Pitt) – great leaps, good side aerial to BHS series, good on illusion, couldn’t see dismount but looked like a hit
Koshinski (WVU) – sticks y 1.5!!! Got a 10 from one judge.
Herbine (Pitt) – good acro series, beautiful splits, great punch front, and a hit dismount
Miller (Pitt) – great acro series, great front aerial, small step on dismount
West (Pitt) – great leaps to start, soldia acero series, big break on switch 3/4 but saves it, and hits dismount
Menzione (BSU) – great full in to open, such a fun routine, stuck double back to close!
Ceccarini (Pitt) – exhibition – good acro series, leaps are good, and off beam on front toss, small step on dismount.
After 3: Pitt 146.700, WVU 146.300, Ball State 146.100
Wow, what a tight competition. Only 0.6 separates the three teams. This should be an intense final rotation.
Rotation 4
Hudson (BSU) – small step on HS double full. Such a cool vault!
Abarca (WVU) – great bail, huge gienger, sticks (or nearly sitcks) dismount
Finke (BSU) – y half with a small shuffle
Combs (WVU) – great shapish to pak, and small hop on dismount
Penny (BSU) – y full with a small hop
Brett (Pitt) – good double back to open, good 1.5 to front lay, and solid on last pass
Nychyk (BSU) – tucked y 1.5 with a small step forward.
Merwin (WVU) – good Khorkina, cool to see! small hop on dismount
Robatin (Pitt) – great double back to open, hard to see with team standing in the way but I think she hit
Tun (WVU) – missed the beginning, but a gorgeous DLO with a small step to close
Bochenek (Pitt) – great rudi to open, great double pike, 1.5 to front lay is solid.
Merwin (WVU) – good jaeger, sticks DLO dismount,
Petrikis (Pitt) – good double pike to open, good front lay to front full, good double back to close.
Spivey (Pitt) – sits 2.5 to punch front, looked short on double back but I don’t think she put a hand down (hard to see where I am), good rudi to close
Final: WVU 195.650, Pitt 195.425, Ball State 195.000
Season high for Pitt! WVU came back there in the last rotation. Beam and floor were definitely judged more harshly than vault and bars, so that’s why Pitt seemed to have such a big lead after 2. Also a solid score for Ball State!
Live blog by Mary Emma Burton
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