A 0.550-point lead before the final two events is now as close as No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling (2-0) has been to a loss in 2026. Against No. 3 Quinnipiac University on Saturday, the Ducks followed their only event loss of the season so far with two heats that were good enough for the best win yet in the NCATA.

Yes, the tumbling is elite, but Oregon’s depth is what pushed it through a postseason-level matchup. With regular starting top Selah Bell limited and strategic change elsewhere, the Ducks looked to several new performers in their 270.64-265.425 victory over the Bobcats. Mixed with a second-half strength that was better than two weeks ago and a 10.0 compulsory toss score sprinkled in, Head coach Taylor Susnara and Oregon earned a season-defining win.

Depth is the Ducks’ separator this year.

I can talk all I want about the Ducks’ returning stars, but what stood out against Quinnipiac was the number of athletes in new spots who kept start values high and executed just as well. True freshman Nya Womack debuted in the aerial pass with her quad whip that scored 9.800 — she’s already hanging with a competitive Oregon tumbling group that is only going to keep pushing its start values higher. Briya Alvarado has been phenomenal as a top this year after her strong freshman year was spent exclusively as a tumbler. Oregon’s six-element acro heat looked better against the Bobcats than it did two weeks ago, even if it only officially scored 7.55 on Saturday. 

Susnara highlighted sophomore top Maya Khauv after the meet, too. Khauv stepped onto the mat for the first time in several spots, including Oregon’s synchronized pyramid heat that scored 9.45. Ashlyn Parlett stepped in for Makenna Guidish in Oregon’s quad tumbling pass, and Bell was spelled by Khauv, Carly Garcia (another sophomore tumbler who has taken an increased role as a top) and Cassidy Cu. 

In the tumbling event where Oregon created breathing room before team, new and increased-role athletes like Womack and Brynn Mortimer (trio pass), and Nyla Lassiter, Guidish and Dodd (quad) were crucial to the Ducks’ 56.550 score.

The benefit of such a strong top-to-bottom roster lies somewhere between next week and next year. Oregon will likely only take its top 20 athletes to No. 1 Baylor, but the options for that group just got a whole lot deeper.

Perfect scores are great — but so is consistency

When the perfect-score announcement rang out over Oregon’s sideline after compulsories, it was a welcome boost. The Ducks haven’t scored a 10.0 in the compulsory event since 2020, when it posted a perfect toss heat against Hawaii Pacific University. When they came for Oregon in 2025, it was in open pyramid, when the scores were announced after the half.

This time, the Ducks rolled that momentum right into an acro event that scored 9.800 and 9.750. After the meet, Susnara said that, “Getting that 10.0 really does boost the confidence going into the remainder of the meet.”

It looked like it. While the Ducks weren’t perfect the rest of the day, they were more than strong enough to not let a strong second-half team get any closer than that 0.550 margin after toss. Susnara has spoken often about confidence and getting the nerves out (the latter came up after the meet Saturday, too, when she felt that Oregon did).

In a sport where consistent near-perfection wins meets, the Ducks bounced between their best and mistakes that, in Susnara’s estimation, ranged from “little” to “big.” Oregon’s 10.0 is important and not to be overlooked, but so was three 9.600-plus scores in pyramid and three 9.700-plus solo passes. Both will be necessary down the stretch.

Is this enough?

Has Oregon been there yet this season? Probably not. Before the meet, Blessyn McMorris categorized success in two ways: a win (check) and “improving and growing in confidence in our skills.”

“It’s one thing to do the skills and to keep them in the air, but it’s another thing to compete them and hit them with confidence, and I think that that’s the part that we’re missing this year a little bit,” McMorris said.

I asked Susnara after the meet if she’s watched Baylor at all this season.

“Yeah. They’re doing what Baylor does,” she said. “They’re doing some cool stuff. They’re bringing in some new things, acro and pyramid-wise. They’re powerful, like always, and so for us to show up, we’ve got to make sure we’re at our best.”

After Quinnipiac, Alvarado and Womack both felt that the Ducks had something more to offer, despite a broadly successful afternoon.

“I feel like today was one of our best performances — tumbling-wise, especially,” Womack said. “The confidence from everybody was there; I think team event obviously needs a little bit of work, but that’ll just come with time.”

They’re right. Oregon’s best hasn’t hit the mat yet (at least, not all at the same time). Its first half in Missouri was strong, then its second half stepped up in Eugene. Team event, like multiple athletes highlighted both before and after the meet, hasn’t hit yet. It came up to me before the meet, too in our trading questions preview: “Do you think Oregon has what it takes to take down this Baylor dynasty, and if so, how and why?”

I said it would take an Oregon perfect meet and maybe a Baylor mistake. The Ducks can only control one of those things. They’ve got a week to make it work. 

Oregon faces Baylor (2-0) on Feb. 28 in Waco, Texas. The meet is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT.