All Oregon had to do was make it to tumbling.

In a top-10 meet, the No. 2 Ducks (3-1) still knew they had an advantage deep in the second half. No. 9 Gannon (3-2) declared just 56.4 points in start value in the tumbling event, and Oregon’s combination of skill and difficulty left the Ducks with a joker card: a 2.85-point starting advantage. It made it to tumbling with a lead courtesy of continued improvement in six-element acro and a full-force return from junior top/tumbler Selah Bell. From that point, the Ducks’ stars let it rip to the tune of a 276.055-270.570 win over the Golden Knights.

After a compulsory heat which withstood an extra step in the acro heat to score 9.250, the Ducks had to lean on their acro event. It’s a spot where Oregon hasn’t been perfect this season, and after it graduated from two low six-element scores to a 9.000 last weekend in Texas, Friday night held more improvement. Bell reentered the heat after being held out with a knee injury early in the season, and she helped earn 9.700 points. 

“It was hard at first, but I feel like after I figured out what was going on with my knee, then I was able to communicate with the coaches and figure out what I need to do to get back to my full potential. I feel like since then, it’s been full sails up and it’s been good.”

McMorris took a small step while Briya Alvarado performed her pop around in the heat, but the Ducks held strong for their best score of the season, which Susnara called “amazing” after referring to the heat as the team’s “nemesis” earlier in the week. 

“We’d been drilling it all week since we got back from Baylor,” Susnara said. “We talked a lot about the mental side of acro-6 and the skills there, and so we really hit the mental side of it hard this past week, and I think it showed in how they performed today.” 

The Ducks backed it up with a 9.950 career-best five-element score for Angelica Martin and Cassidy Cu and a 9.750 in Martin and Cu’s seven-element heat.

“I think having an individual heat adds a little bit more pressure, but Angelica and I working together last year so well made it easy,” Cu said. “The team really hyped us up, and I just feel so supported, and I feel like they really trust me to do my job every time, so I’m not too nervous going into acro event because I feel like I can just really lean on my team.”

A strong first half continues to benefit a program that has built its name in the second. For all of its pyramid event success, Oregon’s toss and tumbling prowess has largely been what continues to win it meets and earn it places in the postseason. Against Gannon, after the compulsory wobbles, the Ducks turned in a pair of 29.400-point-plus events which left them with a 0.250-point lead before the half. 

Bell reentered the open pyramid, too, and helped to post the Ducks’ best score of the event: a 9.900 in open pyramid, which helped to balance a 9.950 Gannon open pyramid performance. That lead set the Ducks up for a second half that held most of their start value advantages.

The higher values came in handy immediately, when the Ducks’ synchronized toss and new top Logan Davis faltered with an off-balance toss. The heat still scored 9.450, 0.250 higher than the Golden Knights’ effort, and kept the Oregon lead intact.

“I feel like our group collectively has put in a lot of effort and hard work in general,” Davis said. “I think after the bad reps, we really take a second to step back and collectively think about what we did wrong and how we can improve. So, every time we go out on the mat, it’s always a deep breath, ‘Do your thing, do your job,’ and we got it done this week, so we’re super happy.”

That introduced the tumbling heats where Oregon has been so dominant, and it wasn’t any different on Friday. After a trio of 9.200-plus multi-tumbler heats, the solo pass group turned up.

First, freshman Nya Womack turned her quadruple-whip aerial pass in for a career-high 9.875. Then, Morgan Willingham scored a 9.925 in six-element. Alvarado had a little too much power to stick to her declared step in her triple-whip open pass, but still scored 9.825. None of the Golden Knights’ heats scored more than 9.575.

All the Ducks’ team event, saddled with a 3.975-point lead, had to do was bring it home. Outside of a tumbling pass which landed off the mat from Emily Rezner, a strong outing — and a season-high 93.180 score — was what they got.

“I would say that we’re growing every single time we go out there, and obviously it’s a different team dynamic than last year, but I feel like we’re working together to get to where we were last year,” Bell said.

Oregon stays home to face No. 4 Iona University (2-0) on March 15.

This story was updated to reflect Morgan Willingham’s participation in the tumbling event.