UCLA is hosting its annual Meet the Bruins intrasquad at Pauley Pavilion, giving fans a look at what the 2026 lineup could become. After a remarkable 2025 campaign that included winning the Big Ten Championship in the program’s first year in the conference and returning to the team final for the first time since 2019, the Bruins enter the new season with both momentum and anticipation.
Gone are seven seniors responsible for more than half of last season’s competitive routines. In their place is one of the strongest incoming freshman classes in the nation, featuring four five-star recruits, including three U.S. National team members: Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan, and Nola Matthews. That trio could very well cover six of those lost routines if not more.
Returning for her final year of eligibility is two-time Olympic champion Jordan Chiles, joined by Mika Webster-Longin, Macy McGowan, and Big Ten beam champion Ciena Alipio. In addition, Sasha Fujisaka, who missed all of her freshman season due to injury, is expected to be healthy and could contend for rotation spots in both bars and beam.
2025 Big Ten Coach of the Year Janelle McDonald has brought back all of her staff and added former Bruins standout and four-time All-American Emma Malabuyo as a graduate assistant coach.
Today offers only a preview, but it sets the tone for 2026. From freshmen debuts and lineup experimentation to Chiles beginning her pursuit of a gym slam and more, the 2026 Bruins are looking to wrap up their final intrasquad with some solid and memorable routines.
The preview will be streaming on B1G+ at 4 p.m. ET. Don’t have B1G+? Sign up today for the monthly pass with the code COLLEGEGYM3 for just $10.99/month (regularly $12.99/month).
The team has been broken up into two squads – Holly and Jolly:
Holly: Anyimi, Barros, Eichman, Rosen, Sumanasekera, Webster-Longin, McGowan, Little, and Callahan
Jolly: Hoffman, Mattei, Alipio, Chiles, Sullivan, Matthews, Clay, Jenkins, and Fujisaka
Rotation 1: Holly (VT), Jolly (UB)
Sumanasekera (VT): Y-full, great height and distance. A little hop at the end.
Alipio (UB): Maloney to Bail, nice toe-on tucked half and a STUCK landing!
Anyimi (VT): Y-full, big hop back.
Fujisaka (UB): Beautiful Pak, legs glued together, fall on handstand, exhibitition dismount.
Rosen (VT): Y-1.5, great height, hesitant on the twist, a little stiff-legged on landing.
Matthews (UB): Van Leeuwen, short on handstands, but great double layout with a little hop.
Webster-Longin (VT): Nice execution on the Y-full closed hips before the landing, with a little hop (We should see her doing a 1.5 come this season).
Sullivan (UB:) Tkatchev, legs glued together on the pak, double lay, stuck!
AFTER ONE:
Just one 10.0 start value on vault. We will likely see a couple more in the next rotation. It looks like Brooklyn Moors and Chae Campbell are two of the guest judges. Good to see them back. Points are being awarded instead of scores. Jolly took 3 of the 4 awarded points and leads 3-1 after the first rotation.
Rotation 2: Jolly (VT), Holly (UB)
Eight gymnasts are going for Holly on bars.
Rosen (UB): Maloney to Pak, hurried the half pirouette, good last handstand, a little leg separation on double layout.
Matthews (VT): Y-full, little chest down but stuck landing to start.
Barros (UB): Pak, great extension through the handstand, Van Leeuwen, rises through the double layout and a little shuffle hop in the landing.
Jenkins (VT): Y-1.5, little shaky and far back on the table, but finds the stick.
Sumanasekera (UB): Chow, aggressive half pirouette, ankles come apart on full-out but solid landing.
Sullivan (VT): Y-1.5, great pop off the table, kind of college sticks the landing.
Little (UB): Toe shoot to Maloney, Pak, high held handstand, but a little early on the dismount, chest down and has to take a step.
Webster-Longin (UB): Maloney, Pak, leg separation, clear hip to full-out and a little hop.
Eichman (UB): Hits the Pak right on top of the bar, missed last handstand and “exhibition dismount.”
Anyimi (UB): Blind change, Piked Jaegar to bail, full-in dismount with a small step.
Callahan (UB): Straddled Jaegar, bail to handstand, and thinks about dismout but goes with “exhibition dismount.”
AFTER TWO:
Bars was the lowest ranking event for the Bruins last season. This rotation saw a bunch of steps and hops across the board. There were even a couple of non-dismounts from Callahan and Eichman. All of that is to be expected in a pre-season December meet. No doubt those are being worked on to be ready for January as those tenths on the landings are typically make or break in any given meet. As to the points for this rotation, Jolly got 3 out of the 4 and now lead the meet 6-2.
Rotation 3: Holly (BB), Jolly (FX)
Rosen (BB): Switch leap, split jump, hits the 180. Onodi. BHS LOSO, rock solid. Full-turn. RO back-tucked full dismount and the beam cap came off.
Alipio (FX): RO double-pike, great control on landing. RO back 1.5, front layout. The typical and beautiful floor choreo from UCLA that I love.
Barros (BB): Switch leap, little wobble which breaks the connection on the switch side. Side aerial to BHS stepout, really well done. Gainer full with a stick!
Clay (FX): Doing a legacy routine. Punch front to open double back. RO double pike and nails the ending.
Eichman (BB): BHS LOSO, great extension through the series. Cat leap to side somi. Beat jump to switch half. Full turn. Tucked front full dismount, small hop foward and lands to the side.
Matthews (FX): Whip to double back. Switch side split full. Has very distinct dance movements and awesome shoulder flexibility. RO back 1.5 to front layout. Sure to be in the floor lineup this season.
Webster-Longin (BB): Press handstand mount with great extension. BHS BHS LOSO a little off center but saves it. Beat jump to switch side, a little wobble. RO 1.5 and nails the landing. Her teammates are so excited, as they should be!
Sullivan (FX): Britney Spears music and the first time performing the routine. RO double layout. Punch front to double back with a little scoot back. Performs the dance really well.
Sumanasekera (BB): Beam caps have been taped on. Full-turn. BHS LOSO, keeps herself steady. Front aerial to beat jump. Split jump to split ring. BHS back 1.5, keeps her hips open to find the stick.
Chiles (FX): Iconic Prince routine! Last time she’ll perform this. RO double layout, flairs the landing. Great extension through the leaps. Front through to double back to end.
Little (BB): Wolf turn. BHS LOSO, fights through the series to stay on. Cat leap to switch side. BHS Gainer full to end with a little hop.
AFTER THREE:
There were little wobbles on beam. Floor had solid landings, not surprising for a team that finished first in the nation on the event. Plus, a really impressive floor routine with some unique shoulder and body motions from Nola Matthews. That one is going to be fun to watch this season. Following the points, 2 for each side for this rotation. It’s now 8-4 in favor of Jolly.
Rotation 4: Jolly (BB), Holly (FX)
Sullivan (BB): Beam debut. Front aerial to straddle jump. So confident in her full turn. BHS LOSO, a little off center but holds onto it. RO back 1.5 dismount with a small scoot forward.
Rosen (FX): Using Eminem music. Double back with a little shoulder shrug. Control on double pike. Switch leap to switch half. RO back 1.5, front layout. Impressive three pass floor routine!
Matthews (BB): Love the facial expressions. Side aerial to Back handspring stepout, so good. RO double full with a small hop back.
Anyimi (FX): Front double full. It’s getting sticky in this arena! Last two passes are solid but large lunges on the landings.
Clay (BB): Switch leap to standing swtich split. BHS LOSO with a slight bobble. BHS, back 1.5 rises off the punch and takes a step.
Webster-Longin (FX): Classic Bougie Wonderland music. FHS front double-full. RO back 1.5 front layout and rises in the air. FHS Rudi, good control.
Chiles (BB): Confident BHS LOSO. Side aerial. Floaty RO double-full, flairs the landing but has the tiniest hop back.
Sumanasekera (FX): Performance quality is amazing, really taps into her heritage. RO double layout, almost out of bounds but saves it. RO back 1.5 front layout to end.
Alipio (BB): BHS LOSO LOSO. Short rotation on her aerial and touches the beam but stays on. Tucked Gainer full to finish.
Barros (FX): Double layout to open and almost goes out of bounds. Punch front to double back and goes out of bounds. Switch half to wolf full, gets it fully around. Love the music and energy she brings to floor.
Mattei (BB): Front aerial, has a balance check and has to go back to redo her series. Gets it the second time but has two more balance checks on her leap series. Good Piked Gainer to finish her routine.
AFTER FOUR:
This was quite a showcase. We saw a total of 41 routines, giving Janelle McDonald plenty to choose from. Potentially the most important ones though, were from the incoming freshmen (Matthews, Sumanasekera, and Sullivan) each of whom competed all-around. Given how many routines that the Bruins need to replace, they will each be a key factor in this season’s quest for the championship. As for the points – Holly came back with 4-1 in last rotation, leading to a final Team Jolly win 9-8.
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