The outcome of a matchup between these two teams might not be some great secret, but their trajectory through the season is strikingly similar. Both entered 2021 with a bizarre collection of injuries that hurt their bar lineup worst, leading to painful and bizarre lineup choices and, subsequently, scores.
Both teams have recovered from this, though UCLA has done so more satisfactorily. The rise of Sara Ulias plus the return of Kalyany Steele takes the Bruins’ bars lineup out of yikes territory, even while the return of Norah Flatley remains a mirage. Oregon State, on the other hand, is still forced to use two non-UTL bars routines after Jane Poniewaz recently sustained a season-ending injury, but the Beavers’ vault and floor lineups are now strong enough to buoy a questionable bars situation.
Both of these teams also have a great deal to gain in terms of rankings heading into the first week of NQS: Oregon State can drop a 194.925 and UCLA a 196.150. Since both teams can outdo these marks by a point or more, and both have an unappetizing early season score they’re guaranteed to drop after NQS kicks in, a rankings jump is very likely on both sides.
Update: Hello, Jenna here! Rebecca accidentally double booked herself so I’m taking over this live blog. *waves* You can follow along with live stats here. In the US, stream on Pac-12. Internationals, enjoy your free YouTube stream!
Lineups just came out and it looks like Kooyman is back in the UB lineup over Steele. Frazier and Campbell in the AA, Dennis on everything but beam.
Rotation 1: UCLA VT, OSU UB
THESE UCLA BLM LEOS. OH. MY. GOSH. *heart eyes emoji*
Tratz VT: Stuck Y-full! Her body looked pretty straight in the air, replay showed the slightest of pikes before landing. 9.800
M. Dagen UB: Good bail handstand. Maybe a little short on her handstand on the high bar. Full turn to double back, stuck. Short and sweet routine, a good start for the Beavers on their weakest event. 9.825 is a career best for her!
Poston VT: Front pike half, chest a little low on the landing and not a ton of distance though the TV angle is bad. Slight shuffle on the landing. Maybe some bent knees in the air too. 9.825
Hoiland UB: Blind half to piked Jaeger. Short handstand after the bail. Late pirouette into her double back. 9.725
Frazier VT: Y-full, she doesn’t get a lot of height and has to pike it throughout. Stuck landing. 9.850 but I thought Tratz’s vault was better.
Young UB: Maloney to bail, pretty solid. A bit piked in her DLO and takes a small hop forward. 9.725
Dennis VT: Her usual excellent Y-full, slight right foot movement on the landing but she keeps it under control this week. Great amplitude and body position throughout! 9.925 so one judge gave it a perfect score despite the foot movement.
Mack UB: Straddled Tkatchev to start with some issues with her leg form, FTDT dismount, lands it short and has to take a large lunge forward. 9.650
Campbell VT: Nearly identical to Dennis in the air but has to really fight for the stick, leaning forward and swinging her arms. 9.800
Bird UB: A little short on first handstand but has a beautiful bail handstand. Very high straddled Jaeger. High FTDT dismount with a step back. Pretty good routine. 9.800
Andres VT: Y-full a bit piked throughout, stuck. Very similar to Frazier’s. 9.825
Peterson UB: Short on her bail handstand and short on other handstands throughout. Double front dismount is pretty good with a small step. 9.750
After 1: UCLA 49.225, OSU 48.825
Both teams will be happy with that rotation. UCLA’s vaults were clean and well-landed for a tie of their season best, and OSU continues its upward climb on its worst event and hits a season high of their own. Also, I still can’t stop staring at these UCLA leos!
Rotation 2: OSU VT, UCLA UB
Bird VT: Y-full, it looked very clean but the TV angle is again terrible. Maybe a bit piked down at the end and stuck the landing. 9.825 is her career high!
Campbell UB: Beautiful first handstand. Maloney to bail handstand is very clean. Blind half to front double tuck dismount, small step backwards. Very nice routine! 9.850
Peterson VT: Yurchenko full-on tuck off, chest lands a little low but she sticks it. 9.850 is another career high.
Kooyman UB: Very nice first handstand. Maloney is good but definite form issues on her Pak. Maybe a little short on last handstand? Hard to tell from the angle. DLO is clean and stuck. One of her better routines. 9.850
Yanish VT: Nice Y-full with a hop back. Not as pikey as some other fulls we’ve seen today. Another 9.850.
Ulias UB: Beautiful first handstand. Blind half to straddled Jaeger is high and clean. Bail to handstand also great, as is her final handstand. Stalder into double tuck is perfect and stuck. 9.925 is well deserved!
Gonzales VT: Yurchenko full-on pike off but she’s crooked throughout and lands way off to the side and takes a large step off the mat. 9.750
Esparza UB: Maloney to Pak, beautiful handstand, beautiful van Leeuwen. DLO with a lot of leg separation and an awkward hop back. 9.875
L. Dagen VT: Y-full with a small foot shuffle on the landing. A bit pikey on the replay. 9.900
Dennis UB: Maloney with some leg separation on the catch. Bail handstand is clean. Nice handstands, I think? Angle isn’t great. Clean DLO with a hop in place. 9.95 takes away the bars title from Ulias.
M. Dagen VT: Y-1.5 with a small hop and some small leg form issues in the air. 9.900
Frazier UB: Maloney with some tiny leg separation, but Pak is very clean. Held her handstand on the low bar before a clean van Leeuwen. DLO with a tiny hop in place. 9.950 ties her with Dennis.
After 2: UCLA 98.775, OSU 98.150
I was pretty pleased with the scoring in the first rotation but the second rotation was a bit more wild. OSU tops UCLA on vault with a 49.325 which is largely thanks to its multiple 10.0 start values. UCLA killed it on bars though with a 49.550, their highest score on any event this year. Both teams should be very pleased with this meet so far!
Rotation 3: UCLA BB, OSU FX
Poston BB: Beat jump to straddle 3/4, solid. BHS BHS LOSO, also good. RO 1.5 dismount, kind of leans back while saluting but she holds the stick. 9.775 (later raised to 9.825)
Mack FX: Front layout to Rudi to open, then good straddle positions on her jumps. Double pike is overpowered and she has to take a large step back, barely stays in bounds on the sting mat. Good start! 9.725
Sakti BB: LOSO LOSO, floaty and well-controlled. Switch split to split jump, solid. Slight check after her full turn, though. Side somi is solid, then her side aerial back full is stuck with a bit of a lean back. 9.900
Bird FX: Front layout to Rudi to straddle jump, her legs were crossed in the air on the Rudi but otherwise clean. Back 2.5 twist looked pretty clean and controlled. 9.825
Frazier BB: Switch split switch split is clean. Front aerial with a bent leg and a small hesitation before her connected back tuck. Side aerial is nice! Gainer front full dismount, stuck. 9.900
Peterson FX: Clean double tuck to open. Front layout to front full, also clean! Switch half to Popa, I think she got it all the way around but not positive. Double pike to finish. Great routine! 9.850
Shapiro BB: BHS BHS LOSO, bends at the hip and off the beam. Switch split switch split is very nice, good recovery. Large check after her full turn, another bend at the hips. Side aerial has a low chest and then she has an awkward fall on her scale. Gainer full twist dismount, stuck. 8.375
Force FX: I love me some Roxanne music! Nice double pike to open with pointed toes. Some soft knees on her jump. Front layout to front full with leg separation on the first flip and a bit of a wild landing on the second. Double tuck to finish, good landing. 9.850
Esparza BB: Small check after her full turn but covers it with choreo. BHS LOSO is right on. Switch split to straddle 1/4 is beautiful. Front aerial to beat jump also beautiful! Side aerial to back full, slight hop back. Great routine to regain momentum. 9.875
M. Dagen FX: Front double twist to open, a bit of a shaky landing but nice in the air. Front layout to front full and awkwardly takes a couple steps out of it. Double pike to finish, nearly steps out of bounds but I think she stayed in. 9.875
Campbell BB: Double wolf turn is too high but who knows if they deduct for that in college. BHS LOSO with a large check, she has to bend at the hips to save it. Front leg is low on the switch half. Switch split to split jump to beat jump but with a hesitation between the first two. Full twist off the side of the beam is clean and stuck. 9.425, perhaps it didn’t start out of a 10 due to the leaps?
Yanish FX: Beautiful double layout, she doesn’t keep her front foot down though and slides back. Front full to front layout, very clean. Nice straddle positions in her leaps. Super high double tuck to finish, overpowered a bit and has to take a couple steps back. 9.800
After 3: UCLA 147.700, OSU 147.350
OSU is well on its way to setting a season high score, but that rotation was a bit of a setback for UCLA. A 197 is still within reach, especially with floor being the remaining event.
Poston’s beam score was just raised a half tenth, so that’s interesting.
Rotation 4: OSU BB, UCLA FX
Peterson BB: Switch half is a little low. BHS BHS LOSO with a small check at the end. Leap series looked solid. Gainer pike off the end, stuck. 9.850 for a 39.300 AA performance!
Andres FX: Back 2.5 punch front, steps OOB but otherwise clean. Double tuck out of the roundoff, well-controlled. Switch half to Popa, solid. 9.625
P12N thinks Peterson got a 9.950 but live scores disagree…
Bird BB: Misses a foot on her front toss but somehow saves it. Solid BHS LOSO series. Hitch kick to switch half with a small check. Front full dismount is a bit rushed with a large hop forward. 9.675
Tratz FX: Double pike to open, good landing. Front leg a little low on one of her leaps. Back 1.5 to front layout, clean! Double tuck to finish, maybe a little squatty landing but she covers it well. 9.850
Young BB: Front aerial is very clean, a bit of a pause before the back tuck but I think they’ll give it to her. Full turn is beautiful! Switch split to split jump to double stag, really nice. Gainer front full dismount, stuck. Fabulous routine! 9.875
Wright FX: Excuse me while I rock out to BSB in my living room. She opens with a 2.5 twist, really nice! Rudi to double stag, clean. Back 1.5 to front lay, well-controlled. Excellent routine! She ends with a fist in the air to mimic the leo and I might be tearing up. 9.850
Domingo BB: Front aerial to back tuck, slight lean but otherwise solid. Switch split to straddle jump, clean. Split 3/4, back leg was a little low. Gainer back full, stuck. 9.825
Frazier FX: Whip through to double back, overpowered with a large hop back. Her dance is fabulous as ever. Double pike is very well controlled. Not sure she got all her leaps around but I don’t particularly care after that performance. 9.850 for a 39.550 AA!
Gonzales BB: Front aerial is solid. She repeats it and tries to connect it to a side aerial and falls. Switch half with a low back foot. Switch split to BHS, then closes with a side aerial to back full and takes a step. 9.100
Campbell FX: Front double twist, solid! Beautiful leaps. Super high double tuck. Front layout to front full, a little underrotated but saves it. Such a fun routine, she performs it well! 9.925
M. Dagen BB: BHS LOSO is floaty and clean. Switch split to switch half, not sure if she reached 180 on the latter. Side aerial to back full, stuck! 9.925 for a 39.525 AA, so she’ll finish just behind Frazier.
Dennis FX: Front layout step out through to double tuck, nearly steps OOB but I think she stayed in. Front full to front layout, solid. Beautiful leaps. Rudi to split jump to finish, a little wild in the air. 9.850
All the UCLA routines have finished with the fist in the air which is just perfect and I love it.
FINAL: UCLA 197.025, OSU 196.500
UCLA comes up just shy of its season high but they’ll be pleased to have reached 197 after that beam rotation. Meanwhile, OSU sets a new season high by three tenths and it feels like they could’ve gone even higher if they had hit 24 for 24. After a slow start to the season it’s great to see them hitting their stride! I wish the Pac-12 Network had said more about the meet theme but it’s an improvement from when they completely ignored the Pride meet last year.
VT: Dennis (UCLA) 9.925
UB: Dennis (UCLA)/Frazier (UCLA) 9.950
BB: M. Dagen (OSU) 9.925
FX: Campbell (UCLA) 9.925
AA: Frazier (UCLA) 39.550
Live blog by Rebecca Scally and Jenna King
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