To kick off the Big 12 Championship, Arizona State faces West Virginia in the opening session at the Maverik Center.
The Mountaineers have rebounded from a rocky start to peak in March, showing particular strength on vault and floor. Five gymnasts hold a vault NQS above 9.8, and three have scored 9.9 on floor. However, inconsistency on beam has limited further progress, and performance on that event could prove decisive in this afternoon session.
The Sun Devils are in a strong position to outpace the Mountaineers, with an NQS nearly a point higher. At the same time, Arizona State will be aiming to post a strong total relative to Arizona, which competes in the evening session. The in-state rivals sit back-to-back in the national rankings, and the Sun Devils will look to build momentum heading into regionals.
Strong individual performers should make for an exciting matchup. Amber Lowe and Kayla Smith have led the way for the Mountaineers this season, while Reese Grolla and Kimberly Smith have been standouts for the Sun Devils.
The meet will be streamed on ESPN+, and scores can be found here.
Arizona State will debut a new Sparky-themed leo today. West Virginia will don its Varsity look.
The broadcast team for this event includes Alex Pearlman and Kennedy Baker.
Rotation 1: Arizona State VT, West Virginia UB
El Mammann (ASU): Yurchenko full, good form in the air, slight pike down and a hop back. A very solid opener for the Sundevils. 9.725
Skeel (WVU): High Tkatchev, bail handstand has leg sep, legs are glued in the double lay, stuck. 9.750
Kelly (ASU): Lots of distance on the Yfull, a hop and small step back. 9.625
K. Smith (WVU): Good on the first hs, leg sep on both Maloney to Pak, vertical on high, floats the double tuck, tiny step. 9.700
Bromley (ASU): Yfull with a step. 9.675
Mendoza (WVU): Misses the Maloney catch and falls. Pak, smallest movement on the DLO. That’ll add a little bit of pressure for the back half of the lineup. 8.900
Purler (ASU): Yurchenko half on pike off, and sticks! Gets decent height on the pike. 9.825
Lowe (WVU): Too far on the piked Jaeger and falls. Unfortunately the Mountaineers will have to count a miss in the first rotation. Nice Pak salto, great handstand on high, smooth blind to double tuck, cowboyed but sticks it. 8.950
Smith (ASU): Good Yfull, forward on the table and doesn’t get too much distance. Small hop back. 9.725
McDonnell (WVU): Maloney, significant form break on the Pak, good hs, full in dismount, legs a little wild. 9.575
Gregoire (ASU): Y1.5, gets good distance, opens early and takes a stumble back, 9.350
M. Smith (WVU): Vertical HS, clean Tkatchev and bail hs, DLO, hops back. 9.650
AFTER ONE: Arizona State 48.575, West Virginia 47.625
West Virginia was forced to count a fall after consecutive missed routines, not exactly the start the Mountaineers wanted. Arizona State put up a solid lineup on vault, with Lilia Purler’s stuck half-on pike being a highlight. There was a bit of a missed opportunity with the mistake from Halle Gregoire’s Yurchenko 1.5, but the Sundevils should nevertheless be happy to start off with a hit rotation.
Rotation 2: West Virginia VT, Arizona State UB
E. Smith (WVU): Clean Yfull, a hop back. 9.750
Grolla (ASU): Maloney to Pak, she’s nailing these handstands, blind to a stuck double tuck! Great start. 9.875
K. Smith (WVU): Dynamic Yfull, rebounds back. 9.725
Kelly (ASU): Pretty straddle jaeger to bail, bit late out of the pirouette, double tuck has a hop back. 9.750
Nelson (WVU): Yfull, pikes down slightly, little scoot back. 9.750
Ossi (ASU): Maloney to Pak, both have small leg separation, patient hs, sticks the DLO with a slight lean. 9.750
Tuohy (WVU): Yfull, arm bend on the table, medium step back. 9.700
Kowan (ASU): Maloney to bail hs, a bit uncontrolled out of the blind full, hops the double tuck. 9.725
DiCello (WVU): Punchy Yfull with lots of distance, small step back. 9.700
Bromley (ASU): Maloney to a pretty Pak, right on hs, sticks the toe pike half! 9.825
Rice (WVU): Tsuk full, block is low, underrotated and puts a knee down. 9.175
K. Smith (ASU): High straddle jaeger with good catch distance, bail slightly short of hs, DLO has a small hop.
AFTER TWO: Arizona State 97.550 (48.975), West Virginia 96.250 (48.625)
Reese Grolla and Kylee Bromley led the Sundevils to a respectable total on bars, allowing them to maintain the lead over West Virginia. Mountaineers similarly had a standard vault rotation with 9.7’s across the board. After counting a fall on bars and evading a counted miss on vault, the Mountaineers will need to shake out the nervous energy with a party on floor.
Rotation 3: Arizona State BB, West Virginia FX
Grolla (ASU): Handstand bhs loso, leg up and balance check but stays on. Small check after the wolf turn. Confident through the cat leap to side aerial. Gainer full dismount is stuck. A nervy start but not a fall. 9.650
Nelson (WVU): Opens with a front through to double tuck, slight slide in the lunge. Back 1.5 to layout has good rise, switch side to straddle is underextended. 9.750
Bromley (ASU): Speedy bhs bhs loso, small wobble. Large hip break on the front aerial. BHS 1.5 dismount and a hop forward. 9.300
Pederson (WVU): Punch layout to Rudi, a little feet crossing, lands well. Slides out of the double pike a bit. Switch ring, switch half to wolf full all with full extension. 9.800
Ossi (ASU): Solid through the bhs loso, underrotates the side aerial and falls. Split to stag ring is good, wobble on the full turn. Step on the gainer pike. The nerves seem to be getting to Arizona State here on beam. 8.900
Tuohy (WVU): Patient twist on her Rudi, nice extension on the leaps. Good timing on the back 1.5 to layout. 9.875
El Mammann (ASU): Solid on the side aerial loso series. Split is a bit short, to split 1/4. Some knee form, and sticks the RO 1.5! A hit to hopefully get the Sundevils back on track. 9.750
Lane (WVU): Punch Rudi to two foot lay, lots of bounce. Good extension on the switch full to wolf full 2x. Punch front 2/1 twist , 9.875
Lee (ASU): Check on the full turn, absolutely nails the bhs bhs loso. Solid on the sheep jump. Small hop forward on the RO 1.5. 9.800
K. Smith (WVU): Double layout, piked down and steps forward. Switch full split full was nicely done. Solid on the front through to double tuck. 9.800
Smith (ASU): Hits the bhs loso easily. Standing loso to split a micro pause between. Switch leap to split 1/4 are both 180, stuck RO 1.5 to end! 9.800
E. Smith (WVU): Big RO FTDT and a good lunge out, switch full to Popa x2 well done. Drills the front lay Rudi. 9.850
AFTER THREE: Arizona State 145.850, West Virginia 145.450
The first half of the Arizona State beam lineup encountered nerves, but the back half came in clutch to set things straight closing out with two 9.8’s from Kimberly Smith and Kayla Lee. West Virginia indeed threw a party on floor, counting no score less than a 9.8 for a 49.200 total. While the Mountaineers are still four tenths behind the Sundevils, they cut into the gap significantly.
Rotation 4: West Virginia BB, Arizona State FX
K. Smith (WVU): Check on the bhs loso, sticks the RO 1.5! 9.725
Lee (ASU): FHS 2/1, good punch. Switch ring to switch half is 180, 1.5 to front lay, nice. Great twisting form on the FHS Rudi, hoppy lunge. 9.850
Lowe (WVU): Solid bhs loso, side aerial to beat jump flows. STUCK back 1.5. A confident routine for West Virginia. Inquiry was put in and her score was raised 0.05 to a 9.875
Braaflat (ASU): Clean front through to double, holds the lunge. Front lay to front full has a small stutter-step in the lunge. 9.850
Mendoza (WVU): Good on the candlestick mount, lean on the bhs loso, with some knee form through that. Check on the turn. Solid front aerial. RO 1.5, hop. Not a lot of set on the roundoff. 9.675
Bromley (ASU): Great toe point in the double pike, controlled lunge. Punch full to front lay, maintains good form. Switch half to wolf full was extended. Double tuck to end, hops back into the lunge. 9.850
Lane (WVU): Solid front toss to bhs, low back leg in her split 3/4, a lean. Hop back on the bhs 1.5 dismount. 9.675
Gregorie (ASU): Calm on the front through to double tuck, extended leaps. FHS, Rudi is low, to loso. Worked through the final pass. 9.875
M. Smith (WVU): Loso loso series, knees but good landing. Repeats a beat jump because of a check. Small hop on the RO 1.5. 9.675
Kelly (ASU): FHS 2/1 to front tuck, lots of height in the twist, toe right on the line but not OOB. Back 2.5 twist, good timing and lunges out. 9.900
Webster (WVU): Speedy full turn, side aerial to aerial two foot, slow connection between those skills. Good leaps, stuck RO 1.5 dismount. 9.850
Smith (ASU): Drills the double pike, FHS front full to layout has a lot of momentum, 180 on her leaps, good finish with a double tuck. 9.900
FINAL: Arizona State 195.225, West Virginia 194.275
VT: Lilia Purler (Arizona State) – 9.825
UB: Reese Grolla (Arizona State) and Amber Lowe (West Virginia) – 9.875
BB: Eden Webster (West Virginia) – 9.850
FX: Delanie Kelly (Arizona State) and Kimberly Smith (Arizona State) – 9.900
AA: Kimberly Smith (Arizona State) – 39.200
Arizona State gets the win over West Virginia in this first session of the Big 12 Championship. The Sundevils posted a new season high floor total at 49.375 to nab at the very least a next-to-last finish across the two sessions. The season isn’t over yet for Arizona State. With their NQS and current standing, the Sundevils are guaranteed to make regionals but will most likely start off in the first round.
Early mistakes on bars and a flat vault rotation held back the Mountaineers today, but they showed grit on floor and held strong on beam. As it was not able to make regionals this year, this competition concludes the season for West Virginia.
To see how the rest of the playing field shakes out, follow along for session two of Big 12s with our live blog, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
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