DAVIS, Calif. – California women's gymnastics once again showcased its deep and talented roster, scoring a 196.375 in a dual at UC Davis for the team's second meet in three days. The Golden Bears topped the Aggies, who earned a 194.925, to complete their regular-season slate.
 
With Cal's top all-arounder Toni-Ann Williams out of the lineup to rest, the Bears emphasized just how deep they are by turning in another team total above 196.0. Of Cal's 32 competitive routines used in 2018, 28 have earned season-high scores of 9.80 or better, including 15 of 9.90 or higher.
 
"Having depth is critical at this time of year. The gymnasts are fatigued physically and mentally and everyone has to be prepared to step in and do their job when they're called to do it," said California head coach Justin Howell. "I was really proud of their efforts this weekend. It's the first time that we've ever done two meets in one weekend, and it's hard. Having to have the physical and mental endurance to compete twice with the emotion of a competition is really hard, but it's necessary."
 
Arianna Robinson (vault), Nina Schank (bars) and Alicia Gallarzo (beam) each earned event titles, and the Bears swept vault, bars and beam.
 
California opened with another 49.0+ bars rotation for the sixth meet in a row. Though the Bears opened the season with five-straight meets of bars totals below 49.0, Cal's improvement on the event was once again evident as the Bears turned in their fourth-highest score of the season, a 49.200. Five Bears in the lineup scored 9.80 or higher, including Emi Watterson, who appeared in the lineup for just the second time all season. Watterson, who joined Cal in late December, debuted with a 9.80 on Friday at the Sacramento State quad meet and followed up her inaugural performance by upping her career-high to 9.85 to finish second on the event.
 
"You never know how someone is going to react, but Emi handled it well in both situations. It's nice to be able to have the depth on bars to do that," Howell said.
 
Schank rebounded from a miss at Sacramento with a team-high 9.90, taking her fifth event title of the season on bars.
 
Cal went six-for-six on vault, with no gymnast scoring below a 9.80, to power the lineup to a 49.325 – the second-highest vault total this season and fifth-highest in school history. After Cassidy Keelen (9.80), Alicia Gallarzo (9.825) and Sylvie Seilnacht (9.985) started the Bears off strong, Kyana George matched her career-high 9.90, Robinson added a 9.925 for the event crown and Rachael Mastrangelo matched her personal-best 9.825.
 
A 48.900 floor rotation kept the Bears nearly two points ahead of the Aggies, with five floor performers earning scores of 9.75 or higher. Sylvie Seilnacht anchored the Bears with a 9.825, and Gallarzo added a 9.80.
 
"If you want to be a team that's competing on the last day of the season at the national championship, you've got to be able to work out and then compete twice in a row. I think this was a good test and learning opportunity," Howell said.
 
Even as Cal's momentum waned in the final rotation, the Bears saw big scores from a trio of heavy hitters at the end of their beam lineup. Chelsea Shu led off with a 9.85, but a fall by George and a 9.525 by Keelen left the Bears in need of a strong latter half of the rotation. Gallarzo delivered with a season-high 9.90, and Sofie Seilnacht followed with a 9.875. Sylvie Seilnacht anchored with a 9.80, and the Bears tallied a 48.950 overall.
 
The Bears will enjoy nearly two weeks off before beginning postseason action on Saturday, March 24 at the 2018 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships in Tucson, Ariz. California awaits seeding following the final week of the regular season. The Bears will be placed into one of two sessions at the Pac-12 Championships based on their regional qualifying scores.