Friday, April 26
7:00 p.m.
Baylor
278.075
vs
269.485
Quinnipiac
No. 1 A&T Tops No. 4 Quinnipiac in NCATA Semifinals
4/26/2019 11:59:00 PM | Acrobatics & Tumbling
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Felecia Mulkey says it's never been about winning championships or chasing trophies, even though she's won all eight national championships handed out by the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association.
"It's just chasing the feeling," the Baylor coach said after her top-seeded Bears (11-0) defeated fourth-seeded Quinnipiac, 278.075-269.485, in Friday's semifinals at the Ferrell Center. "Chase that feeling and go after it."
Junior Alexsis Amrhein had that feeling Friday night.
"We always talk about clicking as a team, and today I felt that," Amrhein said. "I literally have no doubt, and I'm so excited to go in (Saturday) and just annihilate and trust our teammates and everything."
After the team event, before the final scores were announced, Amrhein ran up to Mulkey and said, "I felt it!"
"That's what we chase all year. It's cheesy, stupid, but I've always told you, that's what we chase all year is that feeling. So, today was fun."
For the fourth time in the last five years, Baylor and second-seeded Oregon (7-2) will square off in the NCATA National Championship final at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Ducks advanced with a win over third-seeded Azusa Pacific, 273.325-265.665.
"Oregon is awesome," said Mulkey, who won the first of her eight NCATA championships in Eugene. "They're a strong team, they've gotten better throughout the year, which is awesome to see. We have some start values on them, which means absolutely nothing if we can't execute. So, we have to go out and execute tomorrow. It'll be a scrap right down to the end, but we live for that."
Unlike Thursday's quarterfinal, when Baylor had a comfortable lead by halftime and won by nearly 16 points over eighth-seeded Gannon, the Bears were never that comfortable or relaxed against Quinnipiac (5-3). The Bobcats trailed by less than two points going into the final two events and were still within striking distance going into the team event.
"It's always good to be pushed, and I think it pushed us to a place of clicking," Mulkey said. "And I think we saved up. I always say peak at the right time, but we've set ourselves up to peak on the right day. That's what we're going to try to do."
Despite a few bobbles here and there, Baylor lost just two of 19 heats and won every event. Quinnipiac had close losses in the compulsory (37.750-36.900), acro (28.600-28.275) and pyramid (29.275-28.875) events and trailed by just over 1.5 points at halftime.
With a half-point improvement from Thursday's quarterfinal, the Bears extended their lead by winning the toss event, 29.225-28.850. Baylor recorded at least 9.625 in all three heats, capped by a 9.875 in heat 3.
"For whatever reason, the second day for me since I've been doing this, is always the weirdest day," Mulkey said. "I won't say tough, because it's not the toughest, it's weird. So, we're glad to get through. We're going to talk about some stuff that we need to make some changes. But, I think I'm most proud of our toss event today."
There were some obvious mistakes in tumbling, including Hope Bravo stepping off the mat when she didn't stick her landing in the aerial pass; and Bailey Hollier scoring a season-low 8.925 in the open pass with an awkward flip at the end.
But, senior Kaylee Adams had a 9.850 score in the 6-element pass to help the Bears win the tumbling event, 56.275-54.875, and extend their lead to nearly four points.
"I felt like I definitely improved from last night," Adams said. "I've got to get that landing (Saturday), and I think I'll get it. But also, I can hear my teammates behind me just cheering louder and louder and louder. And that really helps me know that, yeah, this is really good. So, it felt awesome today."
Adams had a breakthrough in Thursday's meet, when she actually opened her eyes during the team event toss.
"I came around, and I saw the bases about to catch me," Adams said. "And I was like, 'Y'all, I opened my eyes! I saw you guys!' It was just a crazy moment. And when we went to pyramids, Alexis Fowlkes was like, 'Kaylee, I need you to focus. We're about to switch gears.'''
Mulkey said Adams was just added to the team event toss about two weeks ago, and "she finally opened her eyes. So, there you go, a little inside tip."
Baylor qualified for all 15 individual event finals, which begin at 11 a.m. Saturday. Live streaming for Saturday's competition is available at www.baylorbears.com.
WACO, Texas – The No. 1-ranked Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team continued its postseason run Friday evening with a 278.075 to 269.485 victory over No. 4 Quinnipiac at the Ferrell Center.
Baylor (11-0) swept all six events for the seventh time this season and fifth meet in a row. It was the second time that the Bears and the Bobcats have met this season, with Baylor previously defeating Quinnipiac 280.775 to 269.675 on Feb. 24 in Waco.
Baylor started the semifinal matchup off strong with a 37.750 to 36.900 event win in compulsory, highlighted by a 9.875 score in the toss heat, and claimed the acro event as well to extend its lead to 66.350 to 65.175.
The two sides were neck and neck in pyramid, separated by just four-tenths of a point, but BU prevailed to take a narrow 95.625 to 94.050 lead into halftime.
The Bears began to pull away after toss as they earned an impressive 29.225 event score and increased their lead to 124.850 to 122.900 through four events.
In tumbling, Baylor received some excellent passes in the duo and trio heats, scoring a 9.65 and 9.525 respectively on their way to another event win. The Bears took a 181.125 to 177.775 advantage to the final event.
Once again, Baylor put an exclamation point on the meet with an energetic team routine that scored a 96.950 and sent the Bears into the NCATA finals.
The Bears have now won 29 consecutive meets and will advance to their fifth-straight NCATA National Championship Final to face No. 2 Oregon Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. Baylor also qualified for all 15 individual event finals, which will begin Saturday at 11 a.m.
For tickets, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program, follow @BaylorAcroTumb on Twitter and Instagram and @BaylorAcrobaticsandTumbling on Facebook.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
On competing for a national title…
"It's not about the trophy at the end, Coach always tells us. We always talk about clicking as a team and today, I felt that. I literally have no doubts and I'm so excited to go in to tomorrow and annihilate and trust my teammates."
- Baylor junior top Lexie Amrhein
-baylorbears.com-
Baylor Bear Insider
Felecia Mulkey says it's never been about winning championships or chasing trophies, even though she's won all eight national championships handed out by the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association.
"It's just chasing the feeling," the Baylor coach said after her top-seeded Bears (11-0) defeated fourth-seeded Quinnipiac, 278.075-269.485, in Friday's semifinals at the Ferrell Center. "Chase that feeling and go after it."
Junior Alexsis Amrhein had that feeling Friday night.
"We always talk about clicking as a team, and today I felt that," Amrhein said. "I literally have no doubt, and I'm so excited to go in (Saturday) and just annihilate and trust our teammates and everything."
After the team event, before the final scores were announced, Amrhein ran up to Mulkey and said, "I felt it!"
"That's what we chase all year. It's cheesy, stupid, but I've always told you, that's what we chase all year is that feeling. So, today was fun."
For the fourth time in the last five years, Baylor and second-seeded Oregon (7-2) will square off in the NCATA National Championship final at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Ducks advanced with a win over third-seeded Azusa Pacific, 273.325-265.665.
"Oregon is awesome," said Mulkey, who won the first of her eight NCATA championships in Eugene. "They're a strong team, they've gotten better throughout the year, which is awesome to see. We have some start values on them, which means absolutely nothing if we can't execute. So, we have to go out and execute tomorrow. It'll be a scrap right down to the end, but we live for that."
Unlike Thursday's quarterfinal, when Baylor had a comfortable lead by halftime and won by nearly 16 points over eighth-seeded Gannon, the Bears were never that comfortable or relaxed against Quinnipiac (5-3). The Bobcats trailed by less than two points going into the final two events and were still within striking distance going into the team event.
"It's always good to be pushed, and I think it pushed us to a place of clicking," Mulkey said. "And I think we saved up. I always say peak at the right time, but we've set ourselves up to peak on the right day. That's what we're going to try to do."
Despite a few bobbles here and there, Baylor lost just two of 19 heats and won every event. Quinnipiac had close losses in the compulsory (37.750-36.900), acro (28.600-28.275) and pyramid (29.275-28.875) events and trailed by just over 1.5 points at halftime.
With a half-point improvement from Thursday's quarterfinal, the Bears extended their lead by winning the toss event, 29.225-28.850. Baylor recorded at least 9.625 in all three heats, capped by a 9.875 in heat 3.
"For whatever reason, the second day for me since I've been doing this, is always the weirdest day," Mulkey said. "I won't say tough, because it's not the toughest, it's weird. So, we're glad to get through. We're going to talk about some stuff that we need to make some changes. But, I think I'm most proud of our toss event today."
There were some obvious mistakes in tumbling, including Hope Bravo stepping off the mat when she didn't stick her landing in the aerial pass; and Bailey Hollier scoring a season-low 8.925 in the open pass with an awkward flip at the end.
But, senior Kaylee Adams had a 9.850 score in the 6-element pass to help the Bears win the tumbling event, 56.275-54.875, and extend their lead to nearly four points.
"I felt like I definitely improved from last night," Adams said. "I've got to get that landing (Saturday), and I think I'll get it. But also, I can hear my teammates behind me just cheering louder and louder and louder. And that really helps me know that, yeah, this is really good. So, it felt awesome today."
Adams had a breakthrough in Thursday's meet, when she actually opened her eyes during the team event toss.
"I came around, and I saw the bases about to catch me," Adams said. "And I was like, 'Y'all, I opened my eyes! I saw you guys!' It was just a crazy moment. And when we went to pyramids, Alexis Fowlkes was like, 'Kaylee, I need you to focus. We're about to switch gears.'''
Mulkey said Adams was just added to the team event toss about two weeks ago, and "she finally opened her eyes. So, there you go, a little inside tip."
Baylor qualified for all 15 individual event finals, which begin at 11 a.m. Saturday. Live streaming for Saturday's competition is available at www.baylorbears.com.
WACO, Texas – The No. 1-ranked Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team continued its postseason run Friday evening with a 278.075 to 269.485 victory over No. 4 Quinnipiac at the Ferrell Center.
Baylor (11-0) swept all six events for the seventh time this season and fifth meet in a row. It was the second time that the Bears and the Bobcats have met this season, with Baylor previously defeating Quinnipiac 280.775 to 269.675 on Feb. 24 in Waco.
Baylor started the semifinal matchup off strong with a 37.750 to 36.900 event win in compulsory, highlighted by a 9.875 score in the toss heat, and claimed the acro event as well to extend its lead to 66.350 to 65.175.
The two sides were neck and neck in pyramid, separated by just four-tenths of a point, but BU prevailed to take a narrow 95.625 to 94.050 lead into halftime.
The Bears began to pull away after toss as they earned an impressive 29.225 event score and increased their lead to 124.850 to 122.900 through four events.
In tumbling, Baylor received some excellent passes in the duo and trio heats, scoring a 9.65 and 9.525 respectively on their way to another event win. The Bears took a 181.125 to 177.775 advantage to the final event.
Once again, Baylor put an exclamation point on the meet with an energetic team routine that scored a 96.950 and sent the Bears into the NCATA finals.
The Bears have now won 29 consecutive meets and will advance to their fifth-straight NCATA National Championship Final to face No. 2 Oregon Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. Baylor also qualified for all 15 individual event finals, which will begin Saturday at 11 a.m.
For tickets, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program, follow @BaylorAcroTumb on Twitter and Instagram and @BaylorAcrobaticsandTumbling on Facebook.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
On competing for a national title…
"It's not about the trophy at the end, Coach always tells us. We always talk about clicking as a team and today, I felt that. I literally have no doubts and I'm so excited to go in to tomorrow and annihilate and trust my teammates."
- Baylor junior top Lexie Amrhein
-baylorbears.com-
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