No. 2 Oregon (5-1) took the win in its second meet of its East Coast road trip 270.630-257.370 over No. 6 Iona University (3-3). The Ducks had early success after struggling five days ago against No. 3 Quinnipiac University and parlayed that into a dominant victory over a program that currently holds a postseason spot.

One week after dropping both the compulsory and acro events in their win over Quinnipiac, the Ducks won both events. 

Oregon pushed through a compulsory event that featured no season-high nor season-low scores and posted a 37.500 total — enough for a 0.350 initial advantage over Iona, which didn’t score higher than 9.55 in the event.

The focus for the Gaels would have to be on execution. Both their five (9.9) and six-element (9.2) acro heats had lower start values than the Ducks’ (both 10.0s) — a built-in advantage for Oregon.

Iona, though, couldn’t capitalize. The Gaels scored significantly lower in five-element (9.00 where Oregon scored 9.65), six-element acro (8.35/9.10) and fell further behind after the event finished. Oregon’s event didn’t see any season-high scores, but was more than enough to push past the nation’s sixth-ranked program and into a 2.5-point advantage.

The opportunity was there for the home team, but the pyramid event from the Gaels scored just 27.850. Oregon could only manage 28.750 points behind no scores higher than 9.80. The mountain to climb for Iona was still significant: 3.4 points at the half.

Out of the break, the Ducks grew their lead with a win in toss — the only event they won against Quinnipiac five days ago. Despite a season-low 9.15 score in the synchronized toss heat, Oregon won the event, 28.100-27.750.

Tumbling, normally one of Oregon’s strongest events, was a surprise miss last Sunday when the Ducks lost the event. Without regular starter Haley Ellis in the lineup, Oregon suffered a fall in the team event against the Bobcats and had to pull out a performance in team to secure the win.

There would be no such issues against the Gaels. Oregon rolled through its tumbling event, scoring 55.750 — 0.100 points more than the 55.650 they posted last week. With the new starters still in place, Oregon fortified a 6.250-point advantage ahead of the team event.

There, the Ducks slammed the door shut on the Gaels. A six-point advantage plus the start value difference (5.78 more for Oregon) was already likely insurmountable. The Ducks didn’t blink in a routine that saw no notable falls or missed skills and scored 92.18, while Iona made no huge mistakes, but didn’t do enough to overcome that deficit and only scored 85.17.

The meet marked the end of Iona’s regular season and the Gaels will now play the waiting game with a spot in the NCATA Championships on the line. Oregon, meanwhile, heads home after an undefeated road trip and sets its eyes on a season-ending rematch with No. 1 Baylor in Waco, TX on April 5.