No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling (5-2) begins its postseason run at the 2025 NCATA Championships with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 Mary Hardin-Baylor (7-3) on April 24. in Sioux Falls, SD. The Ducks put together a four-meet, regular-season winning streak that included a win over UMHB, but it was snapped on the final day by No. 1 Baylor. Since their last meeting, the Cru have won four of five, but faced only one Championships qualifier (Iona University, a loss). Oregon enters the Championships with its eye on a first title since 2014 — and a familiar matchup to kick it off.
Here’s what to know before the Ducks and Cru face off on Saturday.
Familiar faces
Oregon has faced UMHB once already in 2025, when the Cru traveled to Eugene on March 14. The Ducks won easily that day, 275.180-256.005, behind strong acro and pyramid events that combined lost just 1.65 of 60 possible points.
The new advantage could now be that the Ducks have seen the Cru before.
“I think that it’s very helpful that we’ve already faced them,” Oregon head coach Taylor Susnara said this week. “I think that we know what to expect. I think we can feel confident in the sense that we have already seen what they’re good at, maybe at what their weaknesses are and how we can capitalize on what our strengths are.”
UMHB is a strong first-half team, Susnara emphasized. The Cru scored 9.450 or higher in all but two of their first-half heats in their most recent meet, a Division III title-deciding win over Texas Lutheran University. It’s where the Ducks will need to step up.
That doesn’t mean Susnara’s confidence is shaken.
“They’re really clean, and they’re strong athletes,” she said. “And it’s no discredit to what UMHB is doing, but I think we would really have to have some big mistakes happen for us to not advance.”
On the road again — with a twist
Oregon will compete in its fourth consecutive meet away from Matthew Knight Arena against UMHB — the Ducks haven’t been home since their senior night victory over the Cru. Going away from home has multiple implications in acrobatics and tumbling; different judges can mean harsher deductions and different practice spaces.
At the NCATA Championships, five judges will watch each meet instead of the three that attend regular season competitions. That raises the bar even further and means that athletes have more eyes spotting potential deductions — lower scores should be expected.
Oregon senior Alexis Giardina thinks that what the Ducks took away from their road trip was an increase in self-belief.
“Usually we have practice pretty consistently leading up into these bigger meets, especially facing Quinnipiac,” Giardina said. “Then, going into Iona, we really didn’t have much practice throughout that week because our resources were a little bit limited during that trip. I think it really just taught us to trust in ourselves, in our skills and in our teammates.”
Practice will be limited during the postseason, too — Oregon will potentially compete meets on three consecutive days should it win out. It’s not an unfamiliar scenario for the Ducks, though — they’ve spent significant time on the road already — and that’s another advantage.
Event to watch
The first half will be where Oregon looks to jump into an early lead. Both Susnara and Giardina highlighted compulsory acro as an event they weren’t fully satisfied with in the loss at Baylor (Oregon scored 9.00 points in the heat, its joint-lowest of the season). Keep an eye on the early heats — not only for scores, but for the judges’ tendencies.
Here’s the NCATA Championships bracket, as it stands now:
QUARTERFINALS:
- Baylor vs. 8. Limestone (8:30 am PST)
- Oregon vs. 7. UMHB (11:30 am PST)
- Quinnipiac vs. 6. Iona (2:30 pm PST)
- Augustana vs. 5. Fairmont State (5:00 pm PST)
SEMIFINALS:
Winner of 1/8 vs. 4/5 (2:30 pm PST on April 25)
Winner of 2/7 vs. 3/6 (5:00 pm PST on April 25)
CHAMPIONSHIP
Semifinal 1 winner vs Semifinal 2 winner (April 26. at 5:00 pm PST)
