No. 15 North Carolina travels west to face No. 17 California in a top-20 ACC dual at Haas Pavilion.
North Carolina enters fresh off a quad meet victory, led by Gwen Fink’s third all-around title of the season, highlighted by a career-high 9.950 on beam. JoJo Valahovic captured the vault title with a 9.900—her fifth time reaching that mark this season—and currently ranks sixth nationally on the event. Sydney Seabrooks, ranked No. 4 in the NCAA on floor, added a 9.875 and has scored 9.900 or better five times this year. North Carolina has now posted seven consecutive scores of 196.000 or higher, demonstrating exceptional consistency with a scoring range separated by just four-tenths of a point.
California returns home for the first time in a month, continuing an upward trajectory after posting its highest scores of the season over the past three weeks on the road. The Golden Bears are coming off a second-place finish behind Georgia in a quad meet that featured matching career-high 39.475 all-around totals from Tonya Paulsson and Annalise Newman-Achee. Paulsson, who has scored 9.900 or higher on bars four times this season, added a 9.875 on bars and a season-high-tying 9.900 on floor to earn ACC Newcomer of the Week honors for the third time. California also posted a season-high 49.275 on floor, marking its fourth straight week of improvement on what had been its most challenging event.
The meet will be streamed on ACCNX at 10:30 p.m. ET, and scores can be found on Virtius.
Rotation 1: California VT, North Carolina UB
Brown (CAL): Y Full, nice block and amplitude, a small hop in place. 9.775
Seabrooks (UNC): Maloney to Pak, small leg separation. Blind pirouette is off and she has to stop. Double layout is stuck. 8.900
Paulsson (CAL): Y Full, a little off center, hips are a bit closed and twists off the table early with a hop back. 9.775.
King (UNC): Maloney to Pak a little separation and an arch to blind full. Stalder double tuck is stuck. 9.725.
Newman-Achee (CAL): Y Full, great height off the table and nails the landing! 9.900!
Stippich (UNC): Straddled Jaegar to overshoot is high and way above the bar. Double layout with a small hip angle and lifts her leg. 9.825.
Silvers (CAL): Y 1.5 nice amplitude and block off the table. Legs come apart and takes a hop forward. 9.725.
Prejean (UNC): Tkatchev to Pak, nice height. Double front with a stick! 9.900.
Mayhew (CAL): Y 1.5, a little soft knees in the air but keeps her legs together. A small hop forward. 9.800.
Fink (UNC): Straddled Jaegar, nicely done. Overshoot is on top of the bar. Double layout with a stick! 9.875.
Wiley (CAL): Y 1.5, twist off the table is fine, short of rotation and lands to the side with a few steps. 9.750.
Rueda (UNC): Maloney to Pak, a slight leg separation. Blind full to double back with a small hop. 9.825.
AFTER ONE: North Carolina (49.150), California (49.000)
After a shaky start on their first routine, the Tar Heels hit five straight to recover and lead after one. The Golden Bears had several steps on landings but Newman-Achee’s career high got them to a 49.000.
Rotation 2: North Carolina VT, California UB
Prejean (UNC): Y Full, great form in the air with a small hop back. 9.825.
Aderinto (CAL): Ray to overshoot is clean and high above the bar. Snaps the last handstand and sticks the double front! 9.875.
King (UNC): Y Full, nice block, a little off balance on the landing but sticks it in a squat position with a small hip lean. 9.775.
Wiley (CAL): Pak is good with small leg separation. Nice double layout and lands with her chest down but sticks it. 9.850.
Fink (UNC): Y 1.5, a bit off and bent legs in the air with a small hop back. 9.850.
Newman-Achee (CAL): Maloney to Pak, extends her form fully to hit it on top of the bar. Full in with a step to the side. 9.850.
Seabrooks (UNC): Y Full, flat hips off the block but floaty in the air and a small hop back. 9.750.
Melkonian (CAL): Hop change to straddled Jaegar to overshoot is high. Double layout is stuck! 9.875.
Valahovic (UNC): Y 1.5, clean form off the table with a small hop forward on the landing! 9.900.
Brown (CAL): Pak is so clean with her legs glued together. Hits her last handstand and sticks the toe on front half dismount! 9.875.
Forbes (UNC): Y Full, good amplitude and form, twists so quick off the table. Small hop back. 9.775.
Paulsson (CAL): Pak is great and above the bar. Hits her handstand to van Leeuwen and keeps it moving. Double back is high and she sticks it! 9.925.
AFTER TWO: California (98.400), North Carolina (98.275)
Cal is 9th in the nation on bars and showed it here with six scores of 9.850 or better finishing with its second highest bar score of the season. UNC came in as No. 10 on vault. It had steps on a few landings but still broke 49.000. Cal has moved into a slight lead after two.
Rotation 3: California BB, North Carolina FX
Melkonian (CAL): BHS LOSO, slight knee bend in the air but clean landing. Switch ring leap, gets the leg above her head and lands with a tiny lean. RO 1.5 with a small hop forward. 9.825.
Naranjo (UNC): Double pike keeps rising but controls her lunge. Front layout, front full to front tuck has good form and height. 9.850.
Lee (CAL): Front aerial to split jump is great and keeps her arms straight down. BHS LOSO with a lean and lifts her leg up to save it. Gainer Full with a stick. 9.750.
Fink (UNC): Front through to double tuck and nails it in place. RO 2 1/2 twist is solid but a little bit off balance on the landing and keeps it going through her dance. 9.775.
Paulsson (CAL): Slight shoulder dip on her full turn. Front aerial to BHS and extends her legs to land it. Gainer full to another stick. 9.875.
Aoki (UNC): Front through to double tuck, absorbs the landing and nails it with her chest up. FHS, front layout front full, great combination and stays right in line with a controlled step forward. 9.825.
Newman-Achee (CAL): Awesome and difficult Wolf turn to start. BHS LOSO is sharp and solid. Beat jump with a slight tilt to the side. RO 1.5 is right on her toes and takes a step forward. 9.850.
Forbes (UNC): Full in and lands with a couple steps back and a tiny lean to the side. Front layout, front full is clean. Switch side popa is above 180. Double back gets lots of height and a large lunge back. 9.875.
Aderinto (CAL): Front toss with a small shoulder lean and breaks the connection. BHS LOSO backup series is good. Hitch kick to switch half to split jump is right on top of the beam. Gainer full with a small step. 9.750.
Seabrooks (UNC): Double pike is huge. Switch side to popa is clean and hits the split position above 180. RO 1.5 to front layout, high and floaty, and her legs are glued together. 9.925.
Scanlon (CAL): Wolf turn to start. BHS LOSO is solid and nails it. Switch side and breaks the connection. RO 1.5, shoulders are a bit over her knees but sticks the landing. 9.425.
Rueda (UNC): High double back to open. Nice leap combination is above the 180 mark. RO back 1.5 to front layout is good and keeps rising. 9.850.
AFTER THREE: North Carolina (147.600), California (147.450)
Another lead change as UNC posts its second highest score this season on floor. Cal had to count two scores in the 9.700’s but still stayed over 49.000. Going into the last rotation, these two teams are separated by just 0.15 of a point.
Rotation 4: North Carolina BB, California FX
Seabrooks (UNC): BHS LOSO, a balance check but stays on. Switch side is right in line with the beam. Front toss to beat jump and is perfectly square. Back 1.5 with a small hop back. 9.775.
Brown (CAL): FHS bounder to Rudi to open. RO back 1.5 to Barani is nice and lands the straddle jump with a controlled step back. 9.825.
Stippich (UNC): BHS LOSO LOSO and nails it right on the beam. Switch leap straddle jump, upper body is slightly forward. BHS Gainer full with a small hop back. 9.850.
Newman-Achee (CAL): Another double wolf turn to start her routine. FHS Rudi to stag has great amplitude. Switch side popa, back leg is high above her head and hits over 180. RO back 1.5 to front layout is clean and finishes her day off strong. 9.800.
Aoki (UNC): BHS LOSO is pretty and lands it well. Switch leap straddle 3/4 is right at 180. Front aerial to beat jump, almost looks like she broke the connection but keeps it going by finessing it. Back 1.5 with her chest down and a hop forward. 9.800.
Silvers (CAL): RO double tuck is super high but her front foot drags on the landing. RO back 1.5 to front layout, keeps it rising and in line with the bounce of the floor. 9.850.
Fink (UNC): Switch leap switch leap is great. BHS LOSO LOSO with a balance check and fights to stay on by gripping her toes on the beam. BHS Gainer Full to a stick. Really saved that routine. 9.800.
Keuneke (CAL): Punch double full to back LOSO, controls her momentum to get to the lunge. Switch half to wolf full is controlled. Back 1.5 combo pass and lands with her chest straight up. 9.900.
Naranjo (UNC): Front aerial to BHS, gets her arms right down. Switch half is a little off and her hips lean over her knees. Back 1.5 to a fought stuck landing. 9.900.
Mayhew (CAL): Double full to front tuck and finesses the landing. Back 1.5 to front layout, really attacks that last pass. 9.900.
Valahovic (UNC): BHS LOSO with a shoulder dip. Beat jump is beautiful. RO 1.5 with a hop. 9.800.
Paulsson (CAL): Front through to double back, gets great height and keeps the front foot planted on the floor. Jump combination is high. Double pike is a little overrotated but keeps it in bounds. 9.875.
FINAL: California (196.800), North Carolina (196.750)
VT: Newman-Achee, Valahovic (9.900)
UB: Paulsson (9.925)
BB: Naranjo (9.900)
FX: Seabrooks (9.925)
AA: Paulsson (39.450)
Wow! This was tied as late as the fourth and fifth routines in the last rotation and was only decided with the final routine by Paulsson. The Tar Heels come away with their season high but fall half a tenth shy in a meet that had lead changes in every rotation. Cal posts its fourth consecutive score of 196.800 or better.
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Live blog by Sara Finkelstein
