Sunday, February 10
Philadelphia, Pa.
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Penn
Photo by: Steven Prunty
Mountaineers Return to Road
February 09, 2019 01:46 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following a season-best performance, the West Virginia University gymnastics team returns to the road and travels to Philadelphia for a quad meet at Penn, with Temple and Bridgeport, on Sunday, Feb. 10, at p.m., at The Palestra.
Links for live scores and a video stream are available at WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineers (8-4, 0-3) open the meet Sunday on uneven bars. WVU is 1-2 when starting on uneven bars this season. The Mountaineers' complete rotation order is uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
"This is a great place to go and compete," said Mountaineer coach Jason Butts, who stands one win short of career victory No. 100. "A lot of families will be there, and we're all excited for this meet.
"As we nail down our lineups, we see our confidence growing. The more experience we gain on the competition floor, you can see the confidence growing."
WVU has winning records against all three opponents, including perfect 10-0 and 3-0 marks against Penn and Bridgeport, respectively. The Mountaineers are 46-1 all-time against the Owls (7-6, 1-0 ECAC), who WVU defeated, 196.075-194.25, last season on March 4 at Pitt.
Ranked again this week at No. 27 nationally with an improved 195.09 season average, three Mountaineers own four combined national rankings. Senior Kirah Koshinski ranks No. 7 on vault (9.895 avg.) and No. 15 on floor (9.9 avg.). Freshman Esperanza Abarca ranks No. 27 on balance beam (9.85 avg.), and senior Jaquie Tun ranks No. 41 on floor (9.865 avg.).
Freshman Esperanza Abarca paces WVU on uneven bars with a 9.8 average, a mark she has earned in all five meets this season.
A native of Berwick, Pennsylvania, Koshinski enters the meet needing one more vault score of 9.9 or better to match TeShawne Jackson's (2000-03) program record of 23 career vault scores of 9.9 or better.
In their last competition, the Mountaineers tallied a season-best 196.125 in losses to No. 7 Denver (197.45) and Iowa State (196.7) on Feb. 2 at the WVU Coliseum. Koshinski won floor for the fifth consecutive meet with a season-high matching 9.925. She also finished second on vault with a 9.9 total and third on beam with a career-high 9.875. Freshman Kendra Combs finished a team-best fifth on bars with a career-high 9.85 score.
"We've learned that we can't be tentative," Butts added. "We have to go out and attack. We're still missing the little tenths, too. To get that 196.0 score at home, and to also know that's not the best performance we can put out there, is incredible. We're going to take that energy to Penn."
Last week, the Quakers (6-4, 2-1 ECAC) tallied a season-high 193.9 in a sweep of Cornell (190.125), Brown (190.1) and Ursinus (183.025) on Feb. 3, at The Palestra. The Owls upset North Carolina (194.05) and Pitt (193.55) on Feb. 1, tallying a season-high 194.2 at Pitt. The Purple Knights (9-6, 5-1 ECAC) scored 194.2 at Yale for their second quad-meet sweep.
Links for live scores and a video stream are available at WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineers (8-4, 0-3) open the meet Sunday on uneven bars. WVU is 1-2 when starting on uneven bars this season. The Mountaineers' complete rotation order is uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
"This is a great place to go and compete," said Mountaineer coach Jason Butts, who stands one win short of career victory No. 100. "A lot of families will be there, and we're all excited for this meet.
"As we nail down our lineups, we see our confidence growing. The more experience we gain on the competition floor, you can see the confidence growing."
WVU has winning records against all three opponents, including perfect 10-0 and 3-0 marks against Penn and Bridgeport, respectively. The Mountaineers are 46-1 all-time against the Owls (7-6, 1-0 ECAC), who WVU defeated, 196.075-194.25, last season on March 4 at Pitt.
Ranked again this week at No. 27 nationally with an improved 195.09 season average, three Mountaineers own four combined national rankings. Senior Kirah Koshinski ranks No. 7 on vault (9.895 avg.) and No. 15 on floor (9.9 avg.). Freshman Esperanza Abarca ranks No. 27 on balance beam (9.85 avg.), and senior Jaquie Tun ranks No. 41 on floor (9.865 avg.).
Freshman Esperanza Abarca paces WVU on uneven bars with a 9.8 average, a mark she has earned in all five meets this season.
A native of Berwick, Pennsylvania, Koshinski enters the meet needing one more vault score of 9.9 or better to match TeShawne Jackson's (2000-03) program record of 23 career vault scores of 9.9 or better.
In their last competition, the Mountaineers tallied a season-best 196.125 in losses to No. 7 Denver (197.45) and Iowa State (196.7) on Feb. 2 at the WVU Coliseum. Koshinski won floor for the fifth consecutive meet with a season-high matching 9.925. She also finished second on vault with a 9.9 total and third on beam with a career-high 9.875. Freshman Kendra Combs finished a team-best fifth on bars with a career-high 9.85 score.
"We've learned that we can't be tentative," Butts added. "We have to go out and attack. We're still missing the little tenths, too. To get that 196.0 score at home, and to also know that's not the best performance we can put out there, is incredible. We're going to take that energy to Penn."
Last week, the Quakers (6-4, 2-1 ECAC) tallied a season-high 193.9 in a sweep of Cornell (190.125), Brown (190.1) and Ursinus (183.025) on Feb. 3, at The Palestra. The Owls upset North Carolina (194.05) and Pitt (193.55) on Feb. 1, tallying a season-high 194.2 at Pitt. The Purple Knights (9-6, 5-1 ECAC) scored 194.2 at Yale for their second quad-meet sweep.
Players Mentioned
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
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Assistant Coach Jessica Yamzon | Intro
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Associate Head Coach Travis Doak | Intro
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Head Coach Jason Butts | Intro
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