LIVE BLOG: No. 44 Central Michigan at No. 30 Ball State

Ball State has continued its impressive rise up the rankings throughout 2023, coming off its tenth win in a row and currently sitting as the top team in the MAC. Three of the Cardinals’ top five program scores have occurred this season, making them a formidable opponent for Central Michigan, especially at home in Muncie. The Chippewas boast the MAC’s top all around gymnast in senior Hannah DeMers, whose 39.525 (which she scored as recently as last week) is the Chippewas’ fourth best all around score in program history. The senior only has a few more chances to climb to the top of the Chippewas’ record books, and based on recent performances, she has the chance to get a big score tonight.

Stats for today here.

Rotation 1: Ball State VT, CMU UB

White VT: sticks yfull to start, legs apart towards the end. 9.675

Hammond UB: Tkatchev not too much height, little low on the bail, finishes strong handstand into full in tiny hop in place. 9.850

Teter VT: FHS front pike. step forward. 9.750

Kmieciak UB: nice last handstand, DLO big step back piked in the end. 9.700

Middleton VT: yfull off to the side, chest down, decent sized hop back. 9.750

Veglucci UB: nice first handstand, big air to gienger, Pak legs together, full-in chest down fights for stick but has to step forward. 9.725

Pfister VT: sticks pike half. Commentator “I would be very disappointed if whe didn’t get a 10 from at least one of these judges” we’ll see…9.950

Bustelo UB: floaty Tkatchev and takes it to the ground. Second week in a row she’s fallen. She tries it again and catches into bail, nice. double back step back. 9.125

Ruthberg VT: yfull step back. 9.750

Alvarado-Reid: maloney to Pak legs together, good connection, full-in tiny step forward. 9.775

Henry VT: hop forward on y1.5. 9.875

DeMers UB: nice first handstand, big air on Tkatchev, bail legs together very clean, full-in little step back. 9.875

After 1: Ball State 49.075, CMU 48.925

That is Ball State’s third best mark of the season on vault and CMU’s second lowest on bars. Both their best events behind them now.

Pfister’s vault was a 9.9/10.000 split.

Rotation 2: Ball State UB, CMU VT

Mueller VT: yfull chest way down. 9.650

Sumner UB: legs way apart on Pak, good handstand to half turn, last one great too, full turn double back small hop in place. 9.675

Veglucci VT: yfull hop back, some leg separation.

Middleton UB: Maloney, blind full gets it around, small hop back. 9.700

Alvarado-Reid VT: extended yfull, hop back. 9.825

Evans UB: beautiful first handstand, blind full jaeger overshoot caught and good connection, double back legs apart on second flip, step back. 9.800

Cesarone VT: chest down, hop back little bit off to the side. 9.750

Henry UB: Maloney to pak legs apart on both, nice last handstand, double back neat step in place. 9.775

Kmieciak VT: looks like a stick on yfull, chest down at the end. 9.875

Ruthberg UB:Tkatchev to bail, last handstand short, sticks full-in to end. 9.875

DeMers VT: looks like a small hop in place on yfull, good block and air. 9.900

Teter UB: blind full to Tkatchev absolutely huge, lovely last handstand, front double half step back. 9.875

Pfister UB exh: Maloney legs come apart, DLO step back.

After 2: Ball State 98.100, CMU 98.025

CMU just high of a season high on vault, Ball State same. Both teams are looking clean to start thus far.

Rotation 3: Ball State BB, CMU FX

Henry BB: switch to straddle good positions, BHS LOSO small check. chest forward but stick BHS 1.5 dismount. 9.850

Hornbacher FX: front rudi controlled chest up, switch ring to switch half good, double tuck stumbles out of it a bit. 9.750

Evans BB: BHS LOSO small check at the end, same hesitation a little on leaps, switch straddle not quite 180, back 1.5 step back. 9.800 feels a bit high.

Alvarado-Reid FX: back 1.5 to stag, wolf turn lots of presentation in this as expected, back 1.5 to front lay. 9.750

Ruthberg BB: BHS LOSO LOSO small check, break between switchs to straddle jump, side aerial small step. 9.775

Kolyvanova FX: back 1.5 to front lay, switch ring to switch half positions, big double tuck chest way down. really nice technique on this. 9.800

Sumner BB: side aerial to back stepout, back 1.5 small step forward. 9.800

Veglucci FX: front full controlled step out, double tuck same, good choreo. 9.750

Volpe BB: BHS LOSO LOSO legs bent throughout, gainer full off the side held stick. 9.725

DeMers FX: double full stumbles out a bit. Double pike chest up well controlled, front rudi to end. 9.775

Waldo BB: big check oh man stays on, front aerial keeps foot off the ground, punch 1.5 tuck off the side. 9.150

Pitchell FX: huge straddle leaps look great, front lay to front full, big double tuck.

After 3: Ball State 147.050, CMU 146.850

Ball State petered out a little after that last beam routine, but the Cardinals are in a good position to bring it home.

Rotation 4: Ball State FX, CMU BB

Veglucci BB: back in the lineup. BHS LOSO legs very bent, straddle quarter legs 180, side somi legs up wobble, back full stuck. Shaky start. 9.700

Ruthberg FX: interesting how just two poses in the corner and goes right into tumbling. front tuck to double front, Love the Pepas music! Double pike. 9.825

Alvarado-Reid BB: BHS LOSO beautiful positions, sizable check on leap series, gainer pike small step forward. 9.575

Waldo FX: front double full, Wang Yan 2016 Olympic floor music, back 1.5 punch front punch tuck, front rudi. Love all twisting routines, nice recovery from beam! 9.725

Kolyvanova BB: good leaps to start, BHS LOSO, front aerial no hesitation, Punch tuck full to end. 9.800

Middleton FX: huge double pike to finish out, small but controlled step. 9.750

DeMers BB: BHS LOSO check, holds back 1.5 stick! 9.925

Henry FX: front tuck to double tuck not the highest, interesting facial expressions lol, front lay front full, pretty straddle positions. Sticks double pike. 9.900

Pitchell pulled from the lineup for CMU. This is Mueller BB: BHS LOSO lands right at the end of the beam, nice switch position, hop forward on back 1.5 dismount. 9.825 not bad for getting subbed in!

Pfister FX: Giant back full, good control on FHS front pike. double pike oops gets landing but front leg comes up, she stays on her feet. 9.700

Bustelo BB: BHS LOSO no hesitation, switch leap to split 3/4 big check, 9.825

Teter FX: double pike controlled solid to start, front full to front lay so much distance on that. 9.825

Ah, Pitchell now doing exh beam. Not sure what happened but awesome for CMU to not count a beam fall this week.

FINAL: Ball State 196.075, CMU 196.025

CMU gets to drop an earlier 194.100 with that performance. Ball State continues its rise to the top, setting the stage for what should be a really exciting MAC championship that will likely come down to these two.

EVENT WINNERS

VT: Pfister 9.950
UB: DeMers, Ruthberg & Teter 9.875
BB: DeMers 9.925
FX: Henry 9.900
AA: DeMers 39.475

READ THIS NEXT: Suki Pfister Capitalizes on Forward Vaulting for Ball State


Live blog by Katherine Weaver

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