University of North Carolina Athletics
Gymnastics Hosts Rutgers And William & Mary In Second Home Meet
February 18, 2005 | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 18, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina gymnastics team will host Rutgers and William & Mary in its second of three 2005 home meets Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels enter the meet undefeated, having beaten 11 opponents, four of which were members of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. It is the best start to a season since 2003 when the team went 12-0 before losing to NC State by less than a point.
Carolina will face William & Mary for the third time this season, having defeated the Tribe on Jan. 16 at the George Washington Invitational and on Jan. 21 at William & Mary. This will be the first contest against EAGL opponent Rutgers.
Carolina and Rutgers are ranked third and seventh, respectively, in the EAGL with average scores of 192.844 and 189.882. William & Mary, ranked fourth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, travels to the Tar Heel state for the second straight week after having competed in NC State's Hearts Invitational last weekend. The Tribe finished fourth behind NC State, Iowa and George Washington.
Rutgers is coming off a second-place finish in a quad meet at Maryland last Friday. The Scarlet Knights defeated Temple and Brockport State but lost to EAGL opponent Maryland. Rutgers now has a 9-3 overall record and is 1-3 in the EAGL.
Carolina took last weekend off for the first time since the season began on Jan. 16. The Tar Heels are coming off a narrow win at the Governor's Cup in Chapel Hill on Feb. 5 after defeating NC State by two-tenths of a point (193.225-193.025). Maryland (192.425) and Towson (191.85) came in a close third and fourth. The Tar Heels combined scores with NC State to win the Governor's Cup for the state of North Carolina over the state of Maryland.
Senior Olivia Trusty led Carolina with her second all-around title of the season, scoring a 39.15. She notched a season-high uneven bars score of 9.90 and tied for second place on floor exercise to lead the Tar Heels to their only two event wins.
The team opened with its second-best vault score of the season, a 49.075, but recorded its lowest score on any event this season on balance beam - a 46.925 - after counting three falls.
Christine Robella bounced back from early season injuries to place second all-around. The sophomore gymnast also had runner-up finishes on balance beam and floor exercise. Junior Courtney Bumpers had a season-high 9.85 on uneven bars, and senior Elisabeth Alsop set a career-high 9.825 on the same event.
Saturday's meet will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium.
Players Mentioned
