University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Face Difficult Task At West Virginia
January 27, 2005 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 27, 2005
After two meets the North Carolina gymnastics team has seven wins under its belt, but it will face its toughest challenge so far this season on Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va. The Tar Heels will try to beat West Virginia for the first time ever at the Mountaineers' home gym.
"West Virginia is a much stronger team than their scores so far indicate," said Carolina head coach Derek Galvin. "This is their first home meet, and they always do well at home."
The Mountaineers are 1-1 after two meets. They lost to Kent State in their season opener but defeated East Atlantic Gymnastics League opponent Pittsburgh last Saturday with season high scores on every event.
Carolina is coming off a win over William & Mary Saturday in Williamsburg, Va. The Tar Heels defeated the Tribe 195.10-189.30, and seniors Olivia Trusty and Elisabeth Alsop both earned weekly honors for their performances at the meet.
Trusty won the all-around competition with a 39.25, her highest total so far this season and was named TarHeelBlue.com's Hardee's Student-Athlete of the Week . Trusty also won on floor exercise and tied for first place with Alsop and William & Mary's Brittany Gibbs on uneven bars. Alsop's 9.775 on bars was the highest of her career, good enough for her first collegiate first-place finish. Alsop, this week's EAGL Specialist of the Week, also placed second on floor exercise and third on balance beam.
The Tar Heels have been hampered by injuries in the early stages of the season, limiting the competition of junior Mikel Hester and sophomore Christine Robella. Galvin said that while others have stepped up and performed well, the team is not yet at full force.
"At this point in the season," said Galvin, "we are just trying to improve. Gaining consistency on all of our events is our main focus right now. Our goal going into this particular meet is to bring bars and floor to the same level we achieved last weekend on vault and balance beam."
Carolina is ranked fifth in the country on vault, an event that has proved to be its strongest so far this season.
Saturday's meet will take place at 7 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum on the campus of West Virginia.
Players Mentioned
