Check out more photos of the Gym Devils in action in this slideshow.
Despite a few troubles, the No. 22 Sun Devils returned home from their loss to No. 3 UCLA with a decent road score and some individual career-highs.
The ASU gymnastics team (4-4, 2-3 Pac-12) posted a 194.850 road score Sunday afternoon.
By the numbers, the Bruins (8-1-1, 4-1-1 Pac-12) performed their best meet of the year. They scored a 198.050, the nation’s highest score this season.
The Gym Devils saw many career highs, including sophomore Samantha Seaman’s career-best 39.175 in the all-around.
After a tough vault event, the Sun Devils bounced back with strong floor routines and a season-high balance beam score of 49.050.
“The girls showed a ton of heart coming back from a poor vault performance and did a fantastic floor routine,” assistant coach Tom Ward said. “Beam was outstanding. Overall our energy was great. It was just a very hostile environment we competed in and we were happy. Our goal was to score above a 194.500 here, and they did that. So we’re happy.”
Seaman led the Sun Devils on bars, tying her career-best 9.800.
The team’s bars performances were fairly consistent through the lineup, as the No. 19 nationally ranked team on the bars posted a 48.825.
The Gym Devils then moved to the vault, where they struggled and made several uncharacteristic mistakes.
Redshirt senior Beaté Jones led the Sun Devils in the event with a 9.800 and competed in the all-around for the eighth time this season. Jones is ranked No. 20 in the nation in the all-around.
ASU was able to turn its performance around in the last two events, though. The team’s floor exercises went well, scoring a 48.925.
Senior Amanda Davies, who hasn’t competed since Feb. 3, made the best of her return. She shattered her career high, posting a 9.875 on floor.
Freshmen Morgan Steigerwalt and Natasha Sundby also posted a 9.825 and 9.800 in the event.
ASU is ranked No. 22 in the floor exercise event.
The Gym Devils ended the day confidently, posting a season-high 49.050 on the balance beam.
Freshman Natelle Gentile scored a career-best 9.800. Senior Kahoku Palafox stuck her landing and tied her career high on the beam with a 9.850.
Seaman finished her big day with another career-best mark, 9.875.
UCLA junior Vanessa Zamarripa and senior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs led the Bruins with a 39.625 and 39.575 in the all-around.
Note:
Beginning this week, the NCAA now ranks teams with a Regional Qualifying Score. The RQS considers a certain combination of home and away scores and ranks the top teams in the nation.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
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