Carolina Sees Potential in Season Opener

Friday, January 12

Chapel Hill

7 p.m.

North Carolina

194.375

194.650

North Carolina State

Khazia Hislop hit a personal-best 9.950 on floor exercise in the season opener.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

January 12, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics

Complete Results Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels fell just short of their third-ranked NC State Wolfpack rivals in their season opener, trailing 194.375 to 194.650. Although the Tar Heels did not take home first place in the team competition, UNC head coach Derek Galvin still sees positives in the results.

"Overall, it was a first good meet," say Galvin. "One of the highest first meet scores we've had in several years. You add back in that tenth and a half and we're a high 195.000 team, and that's where we feel we should be… The last event, floor, we had fun as a team and that's what this is supposed to be. As hard as we work, if we don't have fun in this process then we're not doing it the right way. But it has to be focused. We need to have the same level of performance on all four events that we had on floor and when we do that, our score will jump significantly."

Despite the loss, Carolina rang in the new year with three first-place scores, seven top-three scores and fourteen top-five scores over all events. Additionally, the Tar Heels set a total of six new personal records over the course of the competition.

Carolina shook off the cobwebs and started their season on vault with a team score of 48.800, their second best event of the night. Sophomore Khazia Hislop kicked off her season with a career-high score of 9.875 on vault, leading the Tar Heels and earning herself first-place honors in the event. Senior Madison Nettles received the next highest mark for Carolina with a second-place score of 9.825 and senior Kaitlynn Hedelund's score of 9.750 earned fifth-place honors. Madison Hargrave and Mikayla Robinson also contributed to the Tar Heels' top event with scores of 9.700 and 9.650, respectively.

Leading the Wolfpack 48.800 to 48.675 entering the second rotation, the Tar Heels' team score of 48.550 on the uneven bars put them just behind NC State who scored 48.675 on the event. Led by senior Madison Nettles and her first-place score of 9.800, the Tar Heels fought to stay in the competition. Grace Donaghy tied for second-place with NC State's Lauren Kent with a score of 9.775 while Morgan Lane and Kaitlynn Hedelund found themselves in a four-way tie for fourth with scores of 9.750. Sophomore Raine Gordon also made her first collegiate appearance for Carolina on bars, setting a new personal best of 9.475.

The Tar Heels and Wolfpack alike encountered challenges on the balance beam. UNC scored a team overall of 47.725 in the third rotation and NC State earned 48.275 on beam in their fourth and final rotation. Senior Morgan Lane tied the Wolfpack's Chelsea Knight for second-place honors with a score of 9.825 and while teammates Emma Marchese and Kaitlynn Hedelund received fifth-place scores of 9.725 and 9.675. Raine Gordon earned herself another career-high score of 9.500 on beam.

After some miscues on the balance beam, Carolina rebounded with a rotation full of exciting floor performances and earned a total score of 49.250 in the event. All six Tar Heels earned scores of 9.775 or better with Khazia Hislop topping off the meet with another career-best score of 9.950. Morgan Lane followed closely in a tie for second with her score of 9.850. Senior Lauren Weisel and freshman Lily Dean both set career-high scores for their floor routines, earning themselves a spot in a three-way tie for fourth. Madison Nettles earned seventh-place honors with a score of 9.800 and Mikayla Robinson tied for eight-place honors with two NC State gymnasts after receiving a 9.775.

Though impressed by the resilience of his team, Galvin knows his team is not satisfied with the final score.

"We're not happy about losing," he says. "NC State is a team that every time we face them, we want to win. I know they feel the same way. We had this and we just let it slip through our fingers. We talked about the fact that this isn't the feeling we like and we want to use this feeling to inspire us to work even harder."

The Tar Heels return to Carmichael Arena Friday, Jan. 19 for their second consecutive home meet. The competition against Temple University begins at 7 p.m.