University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
Tar Heels Push Past Panthers in EAGL Battle
January 28, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The University of North Carolina gymnastics team took down Pittsburgh, the defending East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) champions, in a dual meet on Friday night. After trailing the Panthers following the first rotation, North Carolina set season bests on the final three rotations to capture the win, 194.925-194.450.
“We were behind by a little more than half a point after bars, and we started chipping away at that,” said UNC head coach Derek Galvin. “They did a great job on the remaining three events. It was really satisfying for the team because they have put in a lot of hard work, particularly on beam.”
After an impressive showing against No. 3 Florida last Friday, the Tar Heels showed continued improvement against the Panthers. UNC set season bests on the vault, balance beam, floor exercise and in the team score. North Carolina's score of 194.925 is the highest since UNC's 194.975 performance in the 2016 EAGL Championships.
“We are pleased, but we still recognize that there is still room for improvement,” said Galvin.
Galvin continued, "Every person who competed had strong performances on at least one event. Everyone has gained some confidence from the performance we had as a team tonight.”
A large group of Tar Heels fans was in attendance at the Fitzgerald Field House on Friday evening to cheer the team to victory. The UNC wrestling team, which has a match against the Panthers tomorrow afternoon, was at the meet cheering on the Tar Heels.
“It was great to have the wrestling team, along with the families and some of our alums that are up in the area. It was exciting to have some other UNC student-athletes there cheering for us at an away meet,” said Galvin.
Morgan Lane was the sole gymnast between the two teams to compete in the all-around. The Columbus, Ind., native had another impressive performance for the Tar Heels, as she notched a 39.150 to continue her streak of 39.000 or better performances to 13 consecutive meets.
North Carolina began the competition on the uneven bars, where the team tallied a 47.825. Emma Marchese led the way with a career-best score of 9.800, which earned her a tie for second place with Dani Hall and Lucy Brett of Pittsburgh. Mekyllah Williams scored a 9.700 to finish in sixth place, while Lane placed seventh with a score of 9.675. Madison Nettles posted a 9.600 on the apparatus to take eighth place among all competitors. In addition, Kaitlynn Hedelund added a 9.050 for the Tar Heels.
“We had some mistakes on bars. We kind of dug ourselves into a little bit of a hole on that event. We talked to the team right after bars about looking forward not backward. What we did on bars didn't have to have any impact on the other events,” said Galvin.
The Tar Heels next competed on the vault, and the team posted a season-best of 48.900. Newcomer Alexis Allen posted a career-best of 9.850 to tie for second place with fellow UNC gymnast Kaitlynn Hedelund. This score represented a season-best on the apparatus for Hedelund and is just shy of her career-best of 9.875. Nettles notched a score of 9.750 on the vault, which earned her a fifth-place finish on the event. Madison Hargrave and Lane both posted season-best scores of 9.725 to tie for sixth place.
On the floor exercise, UNC notched a season-best score of 48.950. Following her career-best of 9.925 against Florida last week, Khazia Hislop had a stellar score of 9.875 on the apparatus to take second place. Lane scored a 9.850 to tie for third place with the Panthers' Taylor Laymon. Nettles finished in seventh place on the apparatus with a career-best of 9.850, while Christina Pheil posted a season-best score of 9.750 to place ninth. Additionally, newcomer Jamie Antinori posted a 9.675 to take 11th place in her second appearance in the lineup for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels closed out the meet with a phenomenal performance on the balance beam to secure the victory. North Carolina scored a season-best of 49.250 on the apparatus, and all six gymnasts in the lineup had season-best performances. Hislop and Lane led UNC with scores of 9.900 to tie for first place with Pittsburgh's Lucy Brett. This score represented a career-best for Hislop and a season-best for Lane. Marchese and Grace Donaghy both notched scores of 9.850 on the apparatus to tie for fourth place among all competitors. This score was a career-best for both Marchese and Donaghy. Allen had a career-best score of 9.750 on the beam to finish in eighth place for the Tar Heels.
UP NEXT
North Carolina will return to home competition next Friday, as the Tar Heels host Towson, William & Mary and Wisconsin – Whitewater for a quad meet. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. in Carmichael Arena.
“They are ready to compete again. They want another meet because they want to take what they've learned and apply it,” said Galvin.
Players Mentioned
