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North Carolina
West Virginia
Tar Heels Fall To West Virginia
March 13, 2010 | Women's Gymnastics
March 13, 2010
Chapel Hill, N.C. ------ Despite a University of North Carolina gymnast placing first on every apparatus, West Virginia narrowly edged the Tar Heels 193.775-193.000 at Carmichael Arena Saturday afternoon in a battle of conference rivals. Carolina posted a season-high score on vault and senior Christine Nguyen won the three individual events, but the Tar Heels' poor performance on balance beam was costly.
"We started the meet really strong," said head coach Derek Galvin. "We made some mistakes on bars and Kara Wright had a scary fall after her grip broke during her bar routine. That was an unfortunate distraction and we lost our focus heading into balance beam."
Wright, who was allowed to complete her routine after the equipment malfunction, scored a 9.300 on bars, but the Tar Heels were clearly rattled. Carolina headed into balance beam with a slight lead but had to count three falls en route to a score of 47.475, its lowest beam total this year.
"I was pleased with the first event (vault) and the last (floor), and Kara's fall on bars is not something you prepare for," said Galvin. "It was just one of those unfortunate things that we have to learn from. We have to learn to refocus."
Carolina began the meet on vault and turned in its best performance of the season with Nguyen and sophomore Zoya Johnson capturing the individual title with a 9.825. Wright scored a 9.800 and freshman Michelle Ikoma tied her personal best with a 9.775.
Nguyen won the uneven bars, tying her personal best with a 9.850. It was the second time in the last three meets that Nguyen had posted a 9.850. Morgan Evans had a solid routine with a 9.725, but Carolina counted two falls and scored a 47.850.
Competing in the all-around for the first time this year, Evans continued to perform well in the meet with a first-place beam routine of 9.800. She followed that with a 9.750 on floor to post an all-around score of 38.950.
Nguyen bounced back from a fall on the balance beam to scored a 9.875 on floor and tie Wright for first-place honors. Nguyen was third in the all-around with a 38.900.
Carolina will quickly return to action when they travel to Maryland on Tuesday for a meet that was postponed earlier this year because of snow. The Terps edged the Tar Heels earlier this year in Chapel Hill. Following the Maryland meet, UNC returns home to face Rutgers on Saturday, March 20.
"We have a quick turnaround for a meet at Maryland, but I know we will be focused and ready to perform at a high level," said Galvin.
Players Mentioned
