No. 6 Ute Gymnasts Host No. 11 Oregon State Saturday

Jan. 18, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY -

This Week in Utah Gymnastics

The No. 6 Utah gymnasts (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) return home for their Pac-12 season-opener against No. 11 Oregon State (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12) on Saturday, Jan. 23. The meet has an early 3 p.m. start and fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 2:45 so as not to miss the march-in. The Pac-12 Networks will televise the meet live. Live scores can be found at UtahUtes.com.

Quick Sticks

With a start time of 3 p.m., Saturday's meet against Oregon State is the first home matinee in Utah gymnastics history ... While it may still be light outside during the meet, the Huntsman Center stands will be dark due to the annual "blackout" promotion ... The OSU meet is also Faculty/Staff Appreciation day. Faculty and staff receive free admission for up to six people. Visit https://utahtickets.com/facultystaff-discounts/ for more information ... Ute alumni gymnasts will be recognized on the floor after the meet.

Pac-12 Defense Begins

Utah enters Pac-12 play this Saturday against Oregon State as the two-time defending Pac-12 champion. The Utes not only placed first at the 2014 and 2015 Pac-12 Championships, they were also the Pac-12 regular-season champions both years. In the last two seasons, the Utah has gone 12-1 in regular season meets, with the sole loss coming at Stanford in 2014. Utah was picked as the preseason favorite to repeat as the Pac-12 champion in 2016. Oregon State (the 2013 Pac-12 champion) was fourth in the coaches' polling.

National Rankings

Utah improved one place to No. 6 in the national rankings after a 196.725-195.600 win at Southern Utah last week. Utah is ranked No. 1 on bars for the second week (49.350 season average). Utah's best individual rankings are from Kassandra Lopez and Baely Rowe, who are tied for third on bars with a 9.90 average. Also in the top 10 is Breanna Hughes at No. 9 on bars (9.888 average). See sidebars on page 3 for Utah's complete rankings.

Chalk Talk

Earning their first career wins as Utes last week at SUU were Breanna Hughes on vault and bars, Kassandra Lopez on bars and Samantha Partyka on beam ... Hughes has started her senior season with a bang, recording career bests on all three events she is competing. She had Utah's high score on vault (9.90), bars (9.925 with Lopez) and floor (9.875) at SUU last week ... Ute winners this season: Hughes (2), Kari Lee (2), Lopez (1), Partyka (1), Baely Rowe (1), Sabrina Schwab (1), Kailah Delaney (1), Maddy Stover (1) ... The Utes are 45-48 in hit routines (routines without a fall). Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Hughes (6-6), Tiffani Lewis (6-6), Partyka (6-6) ), MaKenna Merrell (4-4), Sabrina Schwab (4-4), Delaney (3-3), Lopez (3-3) and Maddy Stover (2-2).

Ute Insider

After tweaking her knee in pre-meet warm-ups and missing last week's meet, Kailah Delaney is hopeful to return on vault and beam. Slated to make her scoring debut on floor in Delaney's place is Maddy Stover, who scored a 9.825 last week in exhibition. The alternate on vault if Delaney can't go is freshman Erika Muhaw ... Sabrina Schwab was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Jan. 12 after winning floor with a 9.90 and scoring a 9.75 on bars in a season-opening win over BYU. Schwab is the first Ute to win Freshman of the Week honors since Breanna Hughes back in 2013.

Series Shorts

Utah is 64-9 all-time against the Beavers, and at 75 meetings, this is Utah's fifth-longest series. Utah, which has won the last four matchups, is 32-0 against OSU in Salt Lake City. For complete series results, see page 2.

Scouting OSU

Coach: Tanya Chaplin (19th Season)
2015 NCAA Finish: 12th
National Rank: No. 11
2016 Record: 4-1
Notes: After a season-opening home loss to Auburn, OSU went 4-0 last week, scoring a 196.300 to win a rare five-team meet in St. Charles, Mo., against host Lindenwood, Bridgeport, Illinois State and Wisconsin-Eau Claire ... Beavers return 15-24 routines from their 2015 NCAA Championships team ... First-team All-America all-arounder Madeline Gardiner has won the bronze on beam at the last two NCAA Championships. Ranked No. 12 in the latest all-around rankings, Gardiner has a 39.300 season best ... Dani Dessaints is ranked No. 2 on vault (9.90 average).

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