University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Ball State University
Carolina Set to Travel to Ball State for Sunday Afternoon Match-up
March 7, 2020 | Women's Gymnastics
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina women's gymnastics team is set to travel to Muncie, Ind. for a dual meet against the Ball State University Cardinals. The meet is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m. in Worthen Arena.
"We're going in to Ball State and we have to opportunity to earn and achieve a good away meet score," said head coach Derek Galvin. "We want to strengthen our opportunity to qualify at NCAA Regionals. We have two more away meets and we need two good away meet scores. The focus in practice has been on enhancing the quality of the routines, and continuing to focus on little things to improve form and execution. By doing that, and applying that in competition, that will put us in a better position to achieve the kinds of scores we are seeking."
The Tar Heels currently hold a 7-5 (5-4 EAGL) record with potential to add another road win to their 2020 season. As a whole, the North Carolina women's gymnastics team currently ranks 21st in the nation on vault and 23rd on floor exercise.
LAST WEEK
The Tar Heels honored their seniors last Friday, Feb. 28 in Carmichael Arena as they posted their third-consecutive team-high score of the season. Outstanding performances throughout the line-ups on all apparatuses led the Tar Heels to numerous season-best and personal-best scores, adding up to a team total of 196.325, defeating George Washington's score of 195.500.
The Tar Heels opened the meet on vault, an event they are currently ranked 21st in the nation on. They posted a team score of 49.100 to start off the night. The Tar Heel performances were highlighted by seniors Khazia Hislop and Mikayla Robinson, who posted scores of 9.900 and 9.850 to earn first and third place respectively. Fellow senior Alexis Allen came in a close fourth with a score of 9.800. Sophomores Drew Aldridge and Emery Summey also added notable scores of 9.775 to the team score. This strong start from UNC put them in the lead following the first rotation by a slim margin of .150.
For the second rotation, the Tar Heels moved onto the uneven bars where they posted their second-highest team score of the season. Senior Grace Donaghy and freshman Hannah Nam led to team with scores of 9.800, tying for third place. Freshman Elizabeth Culton was close behind, earning a score of 9.775 on the event. Senior Mekyllah Williams also posted her second-highest score of the season in the leadoff spot, earning a 9.750. Following the second rotation, the Tar Heels had increased their lead to .350.
Next up, the Tar Heels took on the balance beam. The team posted their second-highest team score of the season on this event, as well, earning a 49.075. Allen, Hislop, and Culton, all posted scores of 9.825 to tie for first place. Close behind, Emery Summey and Hannah Nam each posted scores of 9.800. Strong performances across the beam lineup helped the Tar Heels increase their lead to .425 points.
The Tar Heels moved on to the primetime event for the final rotation: floor exercise. Their team score of 49.300 helped propel them even further, to their highest final score of the season. Robinson and Hislop each posted a score of 9.900 to tie for first place on the event. Junior Lily Dean posted a season-high 9.875 to claim third place on the podium, and senior Jamie Antinori posted a season-high score of 9.825 to add to the Tar Heel score.
Elizabeth Culton was the only all-around competitor from North Carolina and took second place to a gymnast from George Washington by a 0.025 point differential.
THE OPPONENT
Ball State University currently holds a record of 10-4 (4-1 MAC) after defeating Wisconsin-L.A. Crosse, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Air Force each twice, and taking first place in a quad meet with Pittsburgh, Bowling Green, and Southeastern Missouri State. However, the Cardinals lost tough meets to Iowa, No. 7 Denver, Western Michigan, and No. 10 Georgia. Last year, when Ball State traveled to Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels defeated them 195.150-193.600.
"Both teams are coming in to this meet coming off of great scores the previous weekend," said Galvin. "Both teams are going to be pretty excited about competing. Ball State has a strong program and they are continuing to improve, as we are, and I think it's going to be a really good competition…We just have to bring our blue bubble with us, stay within ourselves, and do our thing."
Players Mentioned
