True freshmen in green are no strangers to pressure-packed moments. 

Tumblers Briya Alvarado and Morgan Willingham shone in solo passes last year. They’re back as sophomores, but the spotlight shifted Saturday to another first-time athlete. 

Nya Womack didn’t have a quadruple-whip pass in her locker before the season. After the Ducks’ win over Missouri State University two weeks ago, head coach Taylor Susnara said that she “threw it on her.”

In her first-ever solo pass against No. 3 Quinnipiac University, Womack nailed all four and scored 9.800 to help secure the Ducks’ second win of the season, 270.64-265.425. Oregon pushed through its traditionally-strong second half with rebounds and bounce-backs against a team that wouldn’t go away. A halftime lead became less than a point after Quinnipiac’s only event win, in toss, but Alvarado, Willingham and Womack closed the door before the team event slammed it shut.

“Everyone was like, ‘Are you scared? Are you scared?’” Womack said. “Honestly, I wasn’t nervous or worried because I knew that with my training, I could execute it well.”

Oregon’s first home half of the season teetered initially between perfection and frustration. The Ducks turned in a perfect 10.0 score in compulsory toss, but scored low for the second consecutive week in six-element acro despite swapping out base Charlotte Lippa. 

“We have worked so hard on that compulsory toss since Missouri,” Susnara said. “We were super proud of that 10.0. Getting that 10.0 really does boost the confidence going into the remainder of the meet.”

Against Missouri State University, the Ducks posted a 7.60 with a fall, and despite no falls on Saturday, scored an announced 7.55. Oregon disputed that, but no score change was announced by the end of the meet. 

“I just thought the scores maybe were supposed to be switched, just given the deductions we were supposed to get,” Susnara said. “I haven’t gotten that information back — at the end of the day, we just want the highest scores for our team.” 

The score reframed a six-element heat that sat between the synchronized heat with 9.8 and 9.75 scores; Quinnipiac scored just 25.600 total in the event with an 8.2 in synchronized pyramid and 7.45 in open.

After pyramid maintained the Ducks’ lead without any perfect scores from two teams that thrived on them last year, it was the Bobcats’ turn to shine. Quinnipiac won its first event, toss, with a 28.900-27.500 margin that included a pair of 9.800 heats from three 10.0 start values (Oregon went 9.9-9.9-9.5).

Part of the middle of the meet was the absence of senior top Selah Bell, who was dealing with a knee injury that Susnara said postmeet was “on the up.” In her place, most of the time, was Maya Khauv, a sophomore who was competing in her first meet.

“She did a fantastic job,” Susnara said. “She did some hard stuff out there in team event too. I’m just really proud of her.”

Earlier this week, Alvarado said she doesn’t get nervous.

Two hours into No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling’s first home meet of the season, Alvarado’s open tumbling pass — three whips into a one-and-a-half — had too much power. The sophomore top/tumbler landed on the mat, then one foot stepped off, then another. She scored 9.7 off her 10.0-difficulty pass.

“I’m pretty good with compartmentalizing,” Alvarado said. “I already know what happened there…all the power took me (so far that) I was ready to do the pass all over again. But I move on — as soon as it’s over, as soon as I hit that clean, it’s out of my head and I’m onto the next thing.”

Alvarado and Morgan Willingham starred as true freshmen with solo passes a year ago. This time, it was Womack who stepped in for her solo debut.

Womack, who pairs a gymnastics background with competitive cheer experience, turned in the quadruple-whip for a 9.80 from a 9.95 start value. Under pressure, Oregon extended its lead to 1.175 points. 

“(Womack) is a hard worker,” Alvarado, who competes a triple whip, said. “Even the confidence was already there, so when they brought that idea to her, she started that it was like she’s done it for years.”

After tumbling totaled 56.550 points, Oregon just needed a team event hit to stay undefeated.

Alvarado nailed her pass in team. Martin and Cu, who missed a skill in the event against Missouri State, were near-perfect two weeks later. Oregon scored 92.920 points to win the meet.

That meant all it had to do in the team event was match or better the Bobcats’ score. Quinnipiac’s event set the table for Oregon with multiple stepoffs, a stumble in toss and a struggle in acro.

It wasn’t perfect, but Alvarado tumbled through without a nerve. Martin raised Cu without a wobble. Oregon remains undefeated ahead of its rivalry matchup with No. 1 Baylor on Feb. 28.

“I think we had a lot of little mistakes today — big mistakes in team event — but I think we got some of the nerves out today,” Susnara said.