Arizona State at California

Recap

The Big Storyline: Both teams performed well, but it was the strength of California’s three all arounders, Maya Bordas, Nevaeh DeSouza and Kyana George, that carried the Golden Bears to victory. California posted a season high as DeSouza quietly posted one of the nations top all around scores, and George ended the meet strong on floor to stop the Sun Devils’ surge. Freshmen came up big for Arizona State, with Anaya Smith taking home the vault title and Sarah Clark winning beam.

Implications: Although California was the favorite in most people’s eyes, Arizona State came into this meet as the higher ranked team nationally and within the conference. Both teams’ scores will benefit them when NQS goes into effect, especially for California who has only now competed three times and had only barely broken 196 once.

Records: Every event title winning score, as well as the all around, is a career high score for that gymnast. Clark’s 9.950 on beam is the highest score on beam for Arizona State since 2009. This was the highest regular season road score for the Sun Devils since 2003.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 14 Arizona State at No. 16 California

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: The weekend’s penultimate meet pits two closely ranked Pac-12 foes against each other, with each team off to a different start to their season. Arizona State has been stellar, entering this meet coming off its best score since 2006, while California has struggled to get things going. Many people have the Golden Bears as a legitimate threat to make nationals this year with their talented and experienced roster, but they need to start bringing in big scores soon to make that prediction come to fruition.

Need More Proof? While both teams boast rosters with strong upperclassmen, the freshmen have been standout contributors so far in 2021. California’s Andi Li has already restructured her bar routine to remove the Jaeger, and she consequently won her first event title. The Sun Devils freshmen duo of Sarah Clark and Emily White have also impressed early on, with White averaging 9.800 or higher on bars and beam and Clark having highs of 9.900 on the both events.