It’s a first trip away from home for No. 4 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling (3-1) this weekend, as the Ducks head to Connecticut to face No. 2 Quinnipiac University (5-0). The bout between two top-four teams in the preseason NCATA Coaches’ Poll could define both of their seasons.
Oregon’s lone loss is to No. 1 Baylor and its win over No. 3 Gannon (now 2-4 on the season) likely won’t stay that high. Quinnipiac, meanwhile, has a perfect record this year, but hasn’t faced a program ranked higher than No. 8 Iona (and won’t again after Sunday, except for a season-ending meet with the Knights).
Both teams are looking for resume-boosters that could help them claim a top seed in the NCATA Championship. Both teams have championship-caliber rosters. This is the week’s marquee matchup.
The Daily Emerald’s Owen Murray and Q30 Sports’ Meg Buckley traded questions ahead of this weekend’s matchup, focused on the teams’ strengths, their seasons so far and the history between the two programs.
Owen’s three questions for Meg:
Both of these programs made it to and then lost in last year’s NCATA Championship semifinals. How much experience has Quinnipiac brought back and why does that matter on Sunday?
Despite the Bobcats having a high number of first-years on the team, the veteran athletes have stepped up to lead by example. Graduate student MiaRose King is in her sixth year and recently led the Bobcats to scoring their first perfect-10 of the season in the seven-element acro heat during their meet against Limestone; earning her the Specialist of the Week award from NCATA. This extends to senior base Hallie Fowler, who won NCATA’s first Athlete of the Week and received an honorable mention for the same award recently.
The experience does not stray far either as alumni Chloe White and Tiffany Zieba have now joined the staff as assistant coaches and all of this plays a role in Sunday’s meet when facing No. 4 Oregon, as this leadership can be a pillar of support for the younger girls, providing confidence to calm any nerves they may have.
Quinnipiac is 5-0 and none of the wins have been close, but it hasn’t faced a program ranked higher than No. 8 Iona. What can you say about how good this team is, even without a top-seven win?
Taking the mat against a highly-ranked team like Oregon can fuel the spirits of the team, but Quinnipiac has always put its all into every meet, no matter the opponent. The team had to adapt to some challenges early in the season, but didn’t let that affect it. It came out with a strong home win against Morgan State, and has continued that precedent. The strongest events for the team would definitely be acro and pyramid, as both have been very strong all season, averaging a 28.88 out of 30.00 for pyramid and 28.41 out of 30.00 for acro.
As the weeks have progressed, the Bobcats have also grown in aspects, as their team event scores have risen over 10 points from February 22 at Long Island University to March 12 at Limestone. While on paper coming out on top against highly-rated opponents looks good, and it is good no doubt, consistency is just as important. The Bobcats have shown time and time again that they have great quality of skills, and now, there’s a focus on building and rolling with that consistency as they go through their season.
These two programs both have championship ambition, and they’re both (almost certainly) going to make it back to the postseason. What is the Bobcats’ ceiling? What’s their floor?
An easily achievable goal for Quinnipiac would be to go to Nationals, but it would be more surprising if they didn’t, considering they are ranked No. 2 and are currently rocking a 5-0 record. In order to win, however, they would have to get through No. 1 Baylor, a team that, if it won, would bank its 10th-consecutive win. A jumping-off point is how the meet between Quinnipiac and Oregon shakes out, and Quinnipiac’s final meet of the regular season against Gannon, a team that knocked the Bobcats out of the semifinals last year. Once those things happen, a clear picture will form on how far the Bobcats need to shoot in order to reach the moon.
Their floor would be getting knocked out early in the playoffs, something that would surprise many people, but anything can happen to anyone on any given day. If they were to reach their ceiling instead, it’d end with them taking the National Championship title home to Hamden.
Meg’s three questions for Owen:
Over the course of the season, Oregon has yet to have an away meet this year. The team also consists of nine new athletes to replace the nine seniors they lost from the previous season. How do you think the team, especially the underclassmen, will adapt to going on the road?
Honestly, I’m not worried about the freshmen. There’s three or four (Angelica Martin, Cassidy Cu, Briya Alvarado and Morgan Willingham especially) who’ve been bigger-than-expected parts of this team’s success, and they’ve been the ones to perform under pressure. Martin and Cu’s new five-element skill has been one of Oregon’s most consistent heats. Alvarado and Willingham both have nailed down solo tumbling passes. They’re for real.
Going on the road is tough, but Oregon senior top Bethany Glick was telling me last week about how she thinks this schedule is an advantage — she said that the Ducks have been, “able to build up their confidence at home,” before they head on the road. I do believe that this team is mentally strong (that’s something they talk about a ton), and so even if they do get down, they’ve always got a shot.
The margins of victories and losses have always been close between the two teams, especially in the past five meetings, with the smallest margin being 1.165 points in 2020. What are some key things to look out for on Oregon’s side this time as each team tries to come away with the win?
The biggest thing to watch in Oregon’s meet is confidence. If it shows up in compulsories, like it did against Morgan State and last week against UMHB, watch out. If it’s not there, like against Gannon a couple of weeks ago, everything starts to get shaky. Like I said, they talk a lot about mental fortitude and being able to bounce back from bad heats and events, but their ability to set the tone early will be huge.
Outside of that, they’ve got strength in key spots — their open pyramid right before the half is one of their best heats (and the only one they’ve had a perfect-10 in in each of the last two years), and their tumbling event (six 10.0 start values, averaging 57.0125 points this season) will always keep them in meets. They can pull away in key spots.
Keep an eye on the team event, though. The Ducks had issues with falls in the first three meets before Oregon head coach Taylor Susnara made changes and “focused very hard on” the event between meets against Gannon and UMHB. Oregon rolled out a very strong team event against the Cru, and flipped that from a weakness to the strength. We’ll see if the Ducks can keep it up.
Oregon faces top-10 teams for the rest of their regular season, including No. 1 Baylor, who they have already lost to. How important is it for the Ducks to keep the momentum going and maintain high energy as they face tough opponents? How does No. 2 Quinnipiac play a role?
Oregon’s schedule is a total gauntlet. There’s no opportunity to rest — and, for a program that wants a top seed in the NCATA Championship, no leeway to drop meets. The Ducks, though, haven’t won three consecutive meets since they opened the 2023 season with a trio of wins.
Three wins is what it’ll take to win a trophy in April, and this is almost a mini version of that. Oregon will face three championship-caliber opponents in tight windows (the Ducks will head to Iona and compete that meet less than a week after this one before a break prior to the rematch with Baylor). Quinnipiac is a huge challenge, especially in that it can match Oregon’s start values. This one will be decided on the mat, not with SVs.
The Ducks have only really faced that once this season — a championship-caliber opponent with equal start values. It was No. 1 Baylor, and they nearly matched them. It’ll happen again on Sunday, and it’ll be a great opportunity for Oregon to measure itself against a great opponent.
Oregon and Quinnipiac face off at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, CT on Sunday. The meet is scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
