(Photo via Samantha Maxwell/WCSN)
TEMPE – When graduate Hannah Scharf stepped up to do her floor routine as the final ASU gymnast of the night, the tension in the air was palpable. UCLA was the heavy favorite coming into the night and the only role anyone expected the Gym Devils to play was host and gracious loser.
Scharf quickly felt the rhythm and got into her routine. The energy in the building surged with every movement, flip and jump as she twisted and turned her way through the routine. There was a little more energy in the other gymnasts’ movements that stood as temporary backup dancers because there was an unspoken hope in the air, that the Devils had the chance to complete the upset.
The Devils were also looking to secure a fourth in-conference head-to-head win and hoped to do it on a day when they would be competing in front of the legacy of past gymnasts on alumni day.
In the final Pac-12 conference meet for ASU, magic was in the air, as the No. 18-ranked Gym Devils (6-5, 4-3 Pac-12) welcomed the No. 10 Bruins (6-9, 4-2) into Desert Financial Arena on Saturday in a matinee meet on the heels of a loss to the No. 16 Oregon State Beavers. The Gym Devils came out on top 196.625 to 196.325 for the top-10 win.
“I think that the gap has just gotten closer and tighter over the last several years,” Santos said. “I think there used to be a little bigger gap between teams, and a lot of the teams are a lot closer (in scores) and we’re all packed in really tight. It really comes down to what happens in the arena that day and who’s performing and who’s on and who’s not, and I think that’s great sports. That leads to great, exciting events when you don’t know the outcome.”
Arizona State started the meet with senior Anaya Smith returning to her anchor spot on vault after freshman Lilia Purler got a chance to round out the event last week at OSU. Purler only competed an exhibition routine, but Smith finished the ASU rotation, which was highlighted by two separate 9.850s from Scharf and senior Jada Mangahas, with a 9.875, the highest of the event for the Devils.
UCLA freshman Alex Irvine scored a 9.900 for the Bruins on bars, but other than that, the Bruins stumbled, with unlucky dismounts contributing to the team recording its lowest score of the season since Jan. 21. This, combined with ASU’s consistent mid-9.8 scores, resulted in a meet that was tied up after one rotation.
The Gym Devils stayed solid, as they scored a 49.150 on bars highlighted by senior Sarah Clark’s 9.900 and senior Emily White’s 9.875. However, the Bruins responded to the first event tie with a small fury, scoring a 49.350 as a team on vault and being led by freshman Katelyn Rosen’s 9.900. The Bruins didn’t count a single score below 9.850 and jumped out to a two-tenths lead at the halfway point.
The third rotation looked like it could have been the deciding factor of the meet. Despite graduate Chloe Lashbrooke hitting the deck at the end of her tumbling pass and scoring an 8.700, UCLA wasn’t forced to count it thanks to UCLA’s power trio on floor, consisting of Rosen, junior Brooklyn Moors and graduate Nya Reed. These three seemed to propel the Bruins far enough ahead with three straight meet-changing scores in the form of a 9.900, 9.925 and a 9.950, respectively.
ASU however, stayed within striking range, keeping up with the UCLA floor excellence, but it was held back by a few unfortunate mishaps. Mangahas fell off the beam and a small Scharf stumbled, which added up to take multiple-tenths off the board.
White came to the rescue, however, and had a performance that the crowd believed was flawless, prompting them to chant, “Ten! Ten! Ten!” before the judges put up a 9.925.
“There was a fall earlier in the lineup, which is always a little bit more stressful of a situation,” White said. “But the two routines that went up after the fall really were solid and stopped the bleeding and I just felt confident. I’ve done this routine a million times. It’s just the same thing. And being at home too, it’s just like a sense of comfort. This is my home. This is my spot.”
White’s high score allowed ASU to end the third rotation only down by a little more than half a point, 147.875 to 147.325.
Then the meet flipped on its head. ASU kept fighting in the final rotation and its persistence was rewarded. Thanks to three straight falls in the back half of UCLA’s beam rotation, Scharf stepped up on the floor mat with the opportunity to seal the meet, even though she didn’t know it.
“I didn’t know that I had to do a really good routine, I thought we had already won,” Scharf said. “I had heard the crowd, but I didn’t see the other girl fall, I just thought, ‘Oh we won.’ But, I wasn’t thinking too much during my routine, so I just kind of let it flow and let my body take over. So it felt really good.”
This resulted in the clutch factor that ASU needed. Scharf sealed the win with a 9.925 and solidified the change of momentum that sent the Bruins home with a loss for a second straight year.
“It was kind of a weird, crazy meet in my opinion, especially with where and how it ended and we weren’t sure that we were going to be able to get there with that,” Santos said. “Plenty of stuff to work on, but I am really proud of them, really happy that they were able to stick it out and keep plugging away and come away with a win.”
