The ASU gymnastics team may have fallen victim to some early season jitters, but left Wells Fargo Arena with a win against the UC Davis Aggies.
The Sun Devils started off with an early lead after vault, led by sophomore Samantha Seaman who posted a 9.775. Senior Beaté Jones ended vault well and posted a 9.750 in this event.
Gaining some momentum on the bars, the Sun Devils had two girls perfectly stick their landings. Jones tied a career-high 9.825 and bars specialist Kahoku Palafox kept riding the momentum, posting one of her highest scores with a 9.850.
The bars event was the peak of the night, but the nerves started to kick in afterward.
“Not our best, but I think we’ll definitely pick it up,” Palafox said. “I know everyone fought for everything, and everyone really gave their heart out for the team and we were all just a little nervous.”
Freshman Natelle Gentile looked unafraid in her first meet. She competed in all four events and looks to be a big contributor in her early Sun Devil career.
“Before the meet, I was a little nervous, but all my teammates did a good job in just telling me to choose confidence,” Gentile said. “Going into every event, it was just my turn to show people this is what I do and that’s why I’m here.”
Going into the floor exercise event, the Sun Devils fell off the horse a bit and opened the door for the Aggies to steal a win on the road.
Luckily, a 9.700 by Beaté Jones and 9.550 score by freshman Morgan Steigerwalt boosted the Sun Devils high enough to take the season opener by a score of 190.850 to 190.500.
“I think we really had the wrong lineup in floor tonight,” Coach John Spini said.
The team missed four of six routines on floor exercise. However, the Sun Devils had bright spots that showed as well.
“I think we did a great job in bars, very aggressive bars,” Spini said.
The Sun Devils will take any win they can manage during this challenging season and Coach Spini is very much aware of the team’s potential to perform at a high level.
“We can be one of the best teams in the country on beam, we got Tina (Salavec) and Samantha (Seaman) that aren’t even competing right now, and Tina is our best beamer. So we have a lot of good things,” Spini said.
In addition, the four first-year Sun Devil gymnasts have displayed their talent and shown they’re going to be important factors this season.
“Our freshmen are the key to our success,” Spini said.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
