The ASU women’s gymnastics team needed to be perfect Friday night against No. 7 Oregon State.
It was not.
In their worst performance in four weeks, the No. 22 Sun Devils lost to the Beavers 194.650-196.925.
“Tonight was flat,” ASU coach John Spini said. “Landings were not as crisp as we’ve seen. I want more [from them]. We want to keep focus on the end product.”
Friday was the first time all year no Sun Devil recorded a career-best.
“It was a little bit disappointing,” ASU junior Mary Atkinson said. “We had been moving forward, but if anything, it will motivate us to work harder in the gym.”
Despite the numerous obvious mistakes, the meet was not without controversy.
ASU senior Kaitlynn Bormann’s balance beam score came under question after two tenths of a point were oddly deducted from her dismount.
Spini said he couldn’t comment on the subjective judging, but that he believed his team performed better than a 194.650.
The bright spot for the Sun Devils (2-8) yet again was Atkinson’s all-around accomplishments.
“It wasn’t my best, but it was good enough,” Atkinson said. “Being an all-arounder for me is kind of a work in progress.”
Her 39.225 four-event total beat out fourth-ranked OSU senior Mandi Rodriguez for the individual title.
“Being in the pac-10, every time we go up against a school, I’m going up against at least one top-10 all-arounder,” Atkinson said. “It’s nice to walk away with something from the evening.”
The rough ASU team outing against the Beavers (10-1) came on a night where a season-high 1050 fans flocked to Wells Fargo.
“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t perform our best,” Atkinson said. “Because, you know if we would’ve had a really good meet, then there’s the opportunity for those fans to come back.”
The low score likely will not hurt ASU in the national rankings.
“We will definitely drop this score,” Atkinson said. “Where we really need to improve right now is our away meet scores, so we have BYU coming up and [then the Pac-10 Championships].”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
