In a senior day battle between two top-five ranked programs, the third-ranked Quinnipiac University acrobatics and tumbling team bested the visiting and fifth-ranked Iona Gaels 272.355 to 262.455 on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats opened the afternoon with a strong showing in the compulsory event, sweeping the Gaels across all four heats. Graduate top Genesis Carson and Junior top Katherine Carter looked brilliant in their early movements, landing in sync and recording a score of 9.3 in the first heat.
“This was our best meet of the year, one hundred percent,” Carter said postgame. “We’ve all been talking about this for the past few days…We’re all just really grateful, and we’re having a great time.”
Junior top Jadyn Wong and senior base/top Emily St. Onge also put together a strong performance, recording an event high 9.75 score in the third heat in the opening compulsory event.
Following the compulsory event came the Acro event, and more importantly, a season first for the Bobcats. After just narrowly missing out on the five and seven-element heats, Quinnipiac lost its first overall event at M&T Bank Arena this season.
After taking home this event by nearly two full points in their meetings against Gannon and LIU, Quinnipiac surrendered the Acro event by just three-tenths of a point.
Looking to bounce back after dropping the Acro event, an event which Quinnipiac dominated in their two meetings with Iona last season, the Bobcats put together a very strong first heat, matching a meet high 9.8 score.
Carson served as the top in the inverted heat of the pyramid event, and came down perfectly with very little wobble at her highest point. Sophomore top Julia Turisi also bounced back in a big way, recovering from a bobble in the previous event to put up a 9.75 in the third heat.
The Toss event proved to be the closest of the day between the two squads and was ultimately decided by just a tenth of a point. The Gaels came out swinging with some strong opening routines to put pressure on the Bobcats. Ultimately, it was the senior class that shone through for Quinnipiac with strong support on the bases from the likes of Madysen Bradley and Gabriella Pierce.
Searching for more wiggle room heading into the final event, the Bobcats got just that with excellent showings across all six heats of the tumbling event.
They would also be helped by two major wobbles and a fall on the Iona side across the first three heats, with junior tumbler Portia Dryden and sophomore tumbler Mylah Vanden Elsen each losing their footing when landing at the end of their routines.
On the other hand, Carter continued her great day with another solid performance in the first heat, helping to more than double the Bobcat lead with a 9.15-8.15 victory in the heat.
St. Onge and sophomore tumbler Alyssa Esposito also put together excellent performances, as St. Onge’s 9.7 in the aerial heat marked the Bobcats’ second-highest score in the heat this season.
The Bobcats went on to sweep all six heats in the event, and more than quadruple their lead heading into the team event.
Now sitting with a comfortable lead through five events, Quinnipiac aimed to close out the day with a strong showing in their team event. Iona, as the visiting side, went through their routine first, with plenty of ground to make up. An occasional awkward landing from the Gaels, and a near-faulty catch on one of the tosses seemed to decide Iona’s fate before Quinnipiac could take the floor.
The Bobcats followed the Gaels and posted their second-highest score in the team event both at home and on the season, with a 92.98. The team event helped Quinnipiac claim the meet by a final score of 272.355-262.445, extending their win streak to three meets in a row and solidifying an undefeated home regular season.
The Bobcats will end their regular season in Baltimore with a meeting against Morgan State on Friday, April 3.
After their final regular season meet, Quinnipiac will wait to see if they are one of the nation’s top eight teams, making the trip to Azusa Pacific University in late April for the NCATA National Championship Tournament.
