No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling is moving on.
It wasn’t perfect, but the Ducks got it done in a clean victory over a team they’d seen before — and in the postseason, that’s all they needed.
“It set us up to succeed at the peak,” Susnara said. “Today wasn’t perfect, so I think tomorrow we have some things that we can work on, and we can perfect and make better. Hopefully, that’ll be good enough to then hopefully advance onto Saturday’s meet.”
The Ducks (6-2) handled the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor Cru, 270.855-252.180 in a NCATA Championships quarterfinal matchup that held close in the first half before exploding into a Ducks blowout in the second. The No. 7 Cru (7-4) weren’t competitive late, much like the meeting the two teams had earlier this season, and Oregon was relatively comfortable as it celebrated its first postseason win of the year.
Oregon scored 9.450 or higher in three of four compulsory heats, which Susnara highlighted as an event the Ducks would focus on after some struggles in the regular-season finale against No. 1 Baylor.
“I think comp acro went a lot better today than it did versus Baylor,” Susnara said. “It was minor, minor things (today), but all-in-all, I was really happy with the execution there.”
The first half was mostly smooth sailing for a team that has shined in acro and pyramid this season; aside from struggles in six-element acro that resulted in an 8.500 score, the Ducks averaged 9.48 points per heat in the half.
“UMHB puts up a really good first half,” Susnara said. “That was why I said that (we needed to come out strong) in the beginning. I think in acro six, we had some nerves that got to us, but I think we were able to recover.”
Oregon had a 2.275-point lead in hand at the break — more than enough to convince the Cru that the door was still open.
Instead, the Ducks slammed it shut.
They opened the second half averaging 9.467 points per heat in toss, highlighted by dual scores of 9.500-or-higher in the 450 salto and open toss heats. UMHB, meanwhile, averaged 8.983 points across the three heats and fell behind by 3.725 points.
The tumbling event — normally one of Oregon’s best — didn’t hit the heights that it did at the end of the regular season, but was more than enough to secure the win. The Ducks scored no higher than 9.850 (in Riley Watson’s six-element pass) and had only three scores above 9.600. Last time out, against Baylor, every single heat was 9.600-plus.
UMHB, though, had multiple low scores that included a 7.050 in the quad pass and 6.450 in the trio. Weighed down by the group tumbling difficulties (duo, trio and quad averaged 7.030), the Cru trailed by 12.025 points with one event to run — a near-insurmountable deficit.
They’d find no joy in the team event, where the Ducks suffered multiple falls and had a shaky pyramid — they scored just 91.030 of a possible 109.230 points. The Cru put up just 84.380 of a possible 100.880.
“Our goals for this meet were to be really present, to be really calm, and to have a lot of fun,” Susnara said. “And I think (the athletes) did that for the most part. We’re just going to keep going though this weekend, and acting as if every meet is our last.”
Oregon moves on to the semifinal round, where it will face No. 3 Quinnipiac University. The Bobcats beat the No. 6 Iona Gaels earlier on Thursday. The semifinal is scheduled for Friday, at 2:30 PM Pacific Time.
