MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team closes its home season at the WVU Coliseum with a quad meet on Sunday, March 17, against No. 22 Ohio State, No. 24 Penn State and NC State. Action begins at 2 p.m.
It's Senior Day, and
Carly Galpin,
Kirah Koshinski and
Jaquie Tun will be honored following the meet. The trio is 53-40 in four years at WVU.
Tickets for Sunday's meet are on sale now at
WVUGAME.com. When purchasing tickets in advance online, tickets are $5 each and $3 for groups of 10 or more. All tickets are general admission. Tickets purchased at the Mountaineer Ticket Office inside the WVU Coliseum Gold Gate on the day of competition will be $7 for adults, $5 for youth and seniors and $3 for groups.
WVU students are admitted for free with a valid WVU Student I.D.
To provide a safer environment for Mountaineer fans and to expedite entry into all ticketed WVU athletic events, the West Virginia Department of Intercollegiate Athletics enforces a Clear Bag Policy. The athletics department invites and encourages fans to visit WVUsports.com/clearbag for more information, to view pictures of permissible and non-permissible items and to obtain answers to frequently asked questions about the clear bag policy.
The Mountaineers' (16-9, 0-4) first appearance in Morgantown since Feb. 24 follows their third place, 195.75 showing against No. 21 Arizona State (196.55) and No. 14 BYU (195.825) on March 13, in Tempe, Arizona. WVU's score was its third-best point total of the season.
"I think we're looking to walk away from Sunday with really polished routines," Mountaineer associate head coach
Travis Doak said. "We've done a really good job of being consistent, but we need to walk away feeling like we've really executed. We're looking to fine-tune so we can be at our strongest moving into the postseason.
"I think we're still seeing some timid tendencies under pressure. This team loves competing at the WVU Coliseum and loves this group of seniors, and I know they're going to work really hard to represent this senior class."
Looking for its first victory this year over a ranked foe, WVU boasts a 9-3 mark in quad meets, most recently finishing second (195.575) at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 17.
Sunday is the second meeting this month between the Mountaineers and the Buckeyes (7-7, 3-6 Big Ten); OSU earned the win on March 2, defeating WVU 196.85 – 196.1, in Columbus, Ohio. Both teams trumped Temple (194.0). WVU is 13-19 all-time against OSU.
The Mountaineers are 7-39 all-time against the Nittany Lions (8-8, 3-6 Big Ten) and 27-14 against the Wolfpack (15-4, 6-1 EAGL).
All four squads sit within a few spots of each other in this week's Road to Nationals Rankings. WVU's greatest edge will come on floor exercise, where the Mountaineers rank No. 13 with a 49.24 National Qualifying Score (NQS). PSU and NCSU are tied at No. 31 (49.08 NQS), and OSU ranks No. 36 (49.015 NQS).
"We are a very competitive team, and Sunday is going to be an exciting meet," Doak added. "This should be fun for our team and the crowd, and I'm excited to see our competitive side on display."
On Wednesday, senior
Kirah Koshinski set the WVU program record for career vault scores of 9.9 or better at 24, winning the event outright with a 9.925 mark. She also matched TeShawne Jackson's (2000-03) record for career floor scores of 9.9 or better (21) with a winning 9.9 showing. The Berwick, Pennsylvania, native now ranks No. 20 in program history with 1,442.9 career points.
Koshinski paces the Mountaineers on vault, balance beam and floor exercise with season averages of 9.864, 9.725 and 9.905, respectively. Freshman
Esperanza Abarca paces WVU on uneven bars (9.795 avg.), and junior
Abby Kaufman shows a 38.905 average in the all-around.
The Buckeyes show an overall NQS of 195.985 and rank as high as No. 17 on uneven bars (49.15 NQS). Last week, OSU closed its home season with a 195.875 – 194.875 win over Bowling Green on March 9. Senior Jamie Stone finished second in the all-around with a 39.025 score.
The Nittany Lions own a 195.9 NQS and rank as high as No. 13 on uneven bars (49.2 NQS). PSU is coming off a 198.025 – 196.325 loss at No. 3 Florida on March 8. Sophomore Lauren Bridgens won uneven bars with a season-best 9.925 and placed fourth on balance beam with a career-high 9.9.
The Wolfpack show a 195.715 NQS and rank as high as No. 27 on balance beam (48.94 NQS). NCSU closed its home season on March 9 with a first place, 196.1 showing against Arizona, George Washington and Texas Woman's, earning nine podium finishes and six event victories.