Gymnastics falls to Cornhuskers
Published Jan. 30, 2007
There aren't many instances in sports when the No. 22 ranked team in the nation can have its best performance of the season and lose. But that's what happened to MU's gymnastics team on Friday night at the Hearnes Center when it competed against the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Tigers scored 195 points for the first time this season, something that coach Rob Drass said would put the team in the mix with the Big 12's best, but it was not enough to match the Huskers' 196.800.
With no way of playing defense in gymnastics, a good team score can alleviate the pain of a loss.
"We're still very proud," senior Amanda Pezzullo said.
There are six technical skills each gymnast is rated on in each rotation or event. Drass said his team is at roughly a 95 percent hit-rate on the six keys of success, but it could improve.
"If you can control that, that's all you can really expect a team to do," he said.
Even though the Huskers won every rotation, the Tigers lost the most ground on the beam, which went to the Huskers 49.200-48.475.
"Beam has always been kind of a hit-or-miss event," Pezzullo said.
Sophomore Adrianne Perry, who placed third in the all-around event with a score of 39.025, had her worst score of the night in beam with a 9.375. This was due for the most part to a fall on the mount, a rare mistake that marked her second beam fall in as many meets. Perry said she still considers beam to be one of her best events.
"I hope I can get beam together," she said.
Drass said without the fall, Perry could have scored a 9.9 on the beam, which would have given her the all-around title for the meet. Perry also said she could have won the all-around title without the fall and that she was very frustrated by the situation.
Despite the struggles of the past two meets, Drass is still confident that he has a great beam team.
"It's just a matter of settling down," he said.
Perry was positive about her floor routine, though. Last week at Oklahoma, she went out of bounds twice in the event, but on Friday, she scored a 9.9.
"I felt excited," she said. "I was very pleased."
Another positive for the team was the performance of junior Julie Abaray, who competed on the bars, beam and floor and scored a 9.625, 9.8 and 9.85 respectively. Her beam score was the one she was happiest about since she fell at Oklahoma.
"I just did what I do in practice," she said.
The team score also had her optimistic about the future.
"I would like to see our team make it to nationals," she said. " I think we have a shot."
Next up for the Tigers is a meet at Iowa State on Friday. Drass said he is confident the team will feel less pressure against the Cyclones and could therefore post a better score.
"We don't have to be perfect to beat Iowa State," he said.