Tar Heels Come Up Just Short Against Wolfpack

Friday, January 25

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

194.650

195.200

North Carolina State University

January 25, 2019 | Women's Gymnastics

1.25 WGYM Results

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Carolina Gymnastics put up a tough fight at the Diversity and Inclusion meet against NC State (195.200), with a score of 194.650 on Friday night in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels held higher scores in three events: vault, bars and floor. Carolina also posted 12 top-three finishes across all four events, highlighted by first-place finishes on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise. Carolina falls to 4-2 while NC State improves to 5-1.

"We were really pleased with the way vault went," Carolina head coach Derek Galvin said. "Bars was one of our strongest performances on that event, even looking back last year. We felt really good after those two events… [Beam] was the difference in the meet. On floor we had a couple uncharacteristic mistakes."

North Carolina opened the meet with its best performance of the year on vault. The Tar Heels finished with a season-high team score of 49.125. Stellar performances from juniors Khazia Hislop and Mikayla Robinson led the Heels. Carolina dominated the podium with the top three scores. Both Hislop and Robinson placed first with scores of 9.900, tying Hislop's career high and topping Robinson's previous career high of 9.850. Madison Hargrave also posted a career high, placing third with a strong 9.875. Freshman Drew Aldridge also set a career high on vault with a score of 9.750.

The Tar Heels then moved on to uneven bars, where Carolina scored a season-high 48.875. Rylie Dewhurst paced the Tar Heels with a first place score of 9.825. Three Tar Heels, Mekyllah Williams, Aldridge and Grace Donaghy, tied for third-place with scores of 9.775, a career high for Aldridge. Carolina finished with four Tar Heels in the top-three.

Carolina went into the third rotation on beam with a score of 98.000, with NC State trailing right behind at 97.500. Carolina struggled on beam, scoring 47.700. Jamie DeCicco led the Tar Heels with a score of 9.850, finishing in second-place. Representing the team on the podium was also Hislop, with a third-place score of 9.825. Alexis Allen also had a strong showing on beam, scoring 9.800.

Carolina finished their last rotation of the day on floor with four top-five finishes. The Tar Heels delivered the highest floor score of the day, a 48.950. Hislop took home first-place on floor with a score of 9.875, her second first-place finish of the day. Robinson and Hargrave tied for third-place, with a score of 9.825. Lily Dean's 9.800 provided them with another top-5 finish in fifth-place.

"We have to trust in the work that we have done on every event," Galvin stated. "That is going to be the message and the focus this week. We are doing the training. We have the physical part of it down but we are continuing to grow and get stronger mentally."

Next week, the Tar Heels hit the road to take on the Temple Owls and Pittsburgh Panthers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The meet will take place on Friday, February 1, at 7 p.m.