No. 5 Michigan State Falls in Road Battle with No. 6 Bruins

LOS ANGELES – In a battle until the very last routine, No. 5 Michigan State gymnastics fell to sixth-ranked UCLA, 197.300-197.200, Saturday afternoon in Pauley Pavilion. 

MSU falls to 5-2 (2-1 B1G), while UCLA moves to 6-2 (3-0 B1G). The Spartans broke 197.000 for the second time this season and earned their second-highest score of the season with their 197.200. 

“What an amazing meet with obvious highs and not-so-highs, but the environment in Pauley was insane and we knew the competition was tough and that it’d be close,” said head coach Mike Rowe.  “We could’ve made up for one tenth in numerous places. I was happy with our bars start, but we stuck two of six dismounts. The team moved on to vault, knowing that we had what we needed to put us ahead, and they were on fire. So proud of our vault line up for stepping up, taking charge and doing what they do in practice every day. A new program record too. I thought we had a pretty decent “Floor Party” going on with a couple of slight landing faults but still true to our performance level and having a great time with it.  Going to beam wasn’t typical but once again, I thought we’d hold our lead and be okay.  We still have room for improvement on every event and we definitely will be better on every event. It’s only week five and a there’s a lot of season left and we will be better. Happy to grab a 197 on the road to help our NQS for post-season seeding.”

MSU captured event titles on both vault and bars, while junior Nikki Smith earned her third all-around title of the season with a 39.475. The Spartans also put up a program-record 49.600 on vault to highlight the meet. 

With the Bruins on vault and Spartans on bars, UCLA took a narrow 49.350-49.300 lead over the MSU after the first rotation. Kellerman led the Spartans in the fifth spot with a season-high tying 9.925 to win her second event title of the season on the event. Fifth-year senior Delanie Harkness captured runner-up honors with a 9.875 and freshman Amy Doyle tied a career-high 9.850 to finish in a tie for third. Senior Gabrielle Stephen and junior Olivia Zsarmani scored 9.825s. 

A spectacular vault rotation gave the Spartans a 98.900-98.500 lead over the Bruins at the halfway point. MSU stuck four out of six vaults for the second week in a row and for its program-record 49.600, which was also the highest score on the event by any team in the country this season. Kellerman, Smith and Zsarmani shared the event title with matching 9.950s. Smith’s score was her fourth 9.950 in five meets on the event and her fourth stick on vault this season. Doyle posted the first 9.900 score of her career on the event with a stuck, career-high 9.900. Sophomore MaKayla Tucker led off with a 9.850 and and Stephen scored a 9.800. 

MSU increased its lead over the Bruins to 0.70 after a 49.300 on floor in the third rotation. Smith earned the best score of the night on the event for MSU with a 9.900. Stephen scored a 9.875, while Tucker and Harkness scored 9.850s and Schulte earned a 9.825 in the anchor spot. 

The Spartans closed the meet on beam with a 49.000. Smith finished second to lead the Spartans with a season-high tying 9.875, while Stephen anchored with a 9.825 and Schulte added a 9.800. The final result came down to the last routine of the meet, as UCLA’s Jordan Chiles 10.000 in UCLA’s sixth and final floor routine put the Bruins up a tenth after UCLA scored a 9.900, 9.950 and a pair of 9.975s in the four routines prior for a 49.800 on the event. 

Stephen finished third in the all-around behind Smith and UCLA’s Chae Campbell with a 39.325. 

MSU returns home on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. against Minnesota at Jenison Field House. The meet will stream on B1G+.