ASU gymnastics notched its first Pac-10 victory of the year on Friday night, defeating Cal 194.450 to 191.975 at Wells Fargo Arena.
Senior Beaté Jones led the charge for the Sun Devils (2-3), posting an all-around score of 38.950, good enough for first place in the competition. Sophomore Nickie Johnson, in her all-around debut this season, compiled a 38.400 to also pace ASU to the victory.
“There were no complaints,” Jones said. “I felt pretty happy about how I did and how my team did.”
Though ASU didn’t achieve its goal of posting yet another season-high score, the Sun Devils were satisfied with the way they bounced back from recent injuries to their squad and snagged a win against the visiting Golden Bears (1-4).
“I think we are rebounding really well,” Johnson said of ASU’s response to senior Mary Atkinson and sophomore Amelia Rew’s knee injuries, both of whom are vaulters. “We’re getting consistent on beam and bars, and on floor we scored a 49 for the first time, so that was really good.”
Freshman Samantha Seaman led the team in the first event, scoring a season-high 9.850 on vault.
The Sun Devils scored 48.250 on the first rotation to grab the early lead, one that they never relinquished.
“I was happy that we all kept [our momentum] going even though we had two of our girls go out,” Johnson said. “I was just really happy we kept things consistent.”
ASU then moved to bars, where Seamen, posting another season-high score of 9.800, and junior Stephanie Hangartner, who also posted a 9.800, extended the Sun Devils’ lead after two events.
“The energy was really good,” Johnson said. “I felt really confident because the team had my back, and I had the team’s back.”
The Gym Devils then moved to beam in their third rotation, where they have struggled all year. ASU tallied only one fall en route to a 48.300 score.
“We still have room to improve, but that just makes it fun,” Johnson said. “We haven’t hit our peak yet. We are waiting to hit our peak toward regionals and Pac-10s.”
ASU shined on the last event, floor exercise, posting a season-high of 49.175 with several crowd-rousing routines, including a pair of 9.9 performances from junior Madison Snowden and Jones.
“I think every time we go to a meet we want to win, obviously,” Jones said. “We want to get our scores, but to come away with a ‘W’ is just a plus. We just need to remember how we felt at this meet.”
The Sun Devils look to build off this win next Friday when they face off against Washington inside Wells Fargo Arena.
In the meantime, they will continue to make adjustments to their lineups, most notably on the vault.
“I think we need to work on figuring out how we’re going to have our lineup for vault,” Jones said. “We just need to figure out the flow there, because the flow wasn’t there tonight.”
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
