Jan. 15, 2012

Meet Results

BERKELEY - No. 1 UCLA defeated the Cal women's gymnastics team, 196.675-192.500 in front of 736 fans inside Haas Pavilion in the 2012 home opener Sunday afternoon.

"I'm so very proud of our team tonight," said Cal head coach Danna Durante. "We talked on Monday about getting one-tenth better on each routine, they not only did that they surpassed it. Vault and bars were much stronger. Beam and floor we struggled a bit, but still much improved from last week. We are back in the gym tomorrow and look forward to another week of progress."

Juniors Madisyn O'Brien and Mariesah Pierce led the Bears and tied for sixth place overall in the vault with identical scores of 9.825. California posted a team score of 48.850 in the event, higher than all of the Bears' scores in the event last season. UCLA's Vanessa Zamarripa captured the vault title with a perfect score of 10.000, while teammates Olivia Courtney and Samantha Peszek tied for second place with a score of 9.925.

O'Brien guided the Bears on the uneven bars as well with a score of 9.750 to take fifth overall and Pierce recorded a score of 9.700 to tie for seventh in the event. Cal scored a 48.475 on the bars as a team. Zamarripa also took first place on the uneven bars with a score of 9.900.

Cal was led by junior Nicolette Lew on the balance beam with a score of 9.850 to capture sixth place, while Pierce was right behind her teammate in seventh with a score of 9.800. The Bears posted a team score of 47.200 on the beam. A trio of Bruins - Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Peszek and Lichelle Wong - tied for first place in the event with identical scores of 9.925.

Pierce scored a 9.825 in the floor exercise to lead Cal and tie for second place overall in the event. O'Brien (9.725), Chelsea Spomer (9.625) and Lina Nilsson (9.550) finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectfully, for the Bears in the event. Cal recorded a 47.975 in the floor exercise as a team. Hopfner-Hibbs won the floor exercise title with a score of 9.900.

Pierce placed second in the all-around with a score of 39.150. Peszek took first place in the all-around for UCLA with a score of 39.450.

The Bears return to action next Friday in Tempe, Ariz. with a Pac-12 meet against Arizona State at 6 p.m. (PT).