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No. 24 WVU Ready for No. 4 Alabama
February 13, 2016 02:58 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 24-ranked West Virginia University gymnastics team travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a Sunday dual-meet against No. 4 Alabama, set for Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. EST inside Coleman Coliseum.
Sunday’s meet will be carried on SEC Network+.
“We are never going to be a better team unless we compete against the nation’s best,” coach Jason Butts said. “This meet is a great learning tool – we need to get comfortable competing in front of big crowds if we ever want to get to the National Championships. Also, I believe Sunday offers us a chance to earn a fantastic road score. We need to take advantage of our chances.”
Sunday is the Mountaineers’ (2-4, 0-3) first regular-season trip to Tuscaloosa since a 196.85-192.525 loss in 2007. The Crimson Tide (3-4, 3-3 SEC) have defeated the Mountaineers in all five of their previous regular-season meetings, including a 197.1-193.525 decision at the Perfect 10 Challenge on Feb. 21, 2014, at the Cox Convention Center and Arena, in Oklahoma City.
“We’ve prepared for a loud, distracting environment all week,” Butts explained. “I think the team is excited for the meet. It will be a huge spectacle, but we’ve been on the road a lot already this season, and we are ready. We need to focus on ourselves and tune Alabama and the home crowd out.”
Nationally ranked for the third straight week, WVU also is nationally ranked No. 15 on vault with a 48.99 season average. The squad will compete against a top-five team for the second straight week; WVU fell, 197.9-195.25 at No. 2 Oklahoma on Feb. 7.
The Crimson Tide are nationally ranked in the top 10 on all four events and are as high as No. 4 on vault (49.204 avg.). Alabama also ranks No. 5 on bars (49.242 avg.) and floor (49.317 avg.), and No. 7 on beam (49.079 avg.).
WVU enters the contest coming off 195.0+ performances in back-to-back road meets last weekend. The Mountaineers have tallied 195.0 or better in four of their first five meets, a feat only achieved once before in 2004. Of note, the Mountaineers currently feature a freshman or sophomore gymnasts in 18 of their 24 lineup positions.
The Mountaineers return to action following two Big 12 Conference road defeats, including the loss to the Sooners. WVU opened last weekend’s road trip with a narrow 195.3-195.2 defeat at Iowa State on Feb. 5. Despite the loss, the Mountaineers tallied a season-high 49.075 on vault and 48.975 on beam against the Cyclones. Two sophomores took event wins with career-high scores at ISU, with Zaakira Muhammad earning 9.9 on vault and Jordan Gillette tallying 9.875 on beam.
“I like the fight in this team and what I saw last weekend,” Butts explained. “I think we saw who is going to rise to the top when the going gets tough and who is not going to fight as hard.”
The Crimson Tide opened the weekend with a 197.275-197.25 loss at No. 8 Auburn on Feb. 12. Alabama tallied 49.2+ on all four events, including a 49.3 mark on beam in the fourth rotation; the score was the squad’s second-best mark of the year.
Ranked No. 6 nationally, junior Katie Bailey finished second overall with a 39.425 mark.
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