Not everything went according to plan in Pauley Pavilion for the Bruins on Sunday.
In its first home meet of the season versus then-No. 16 Oregon State, then-No. 6 UCLA gymnastics recorded its first and second falls of the season, both on beam. The second error forced the Bruins to count a fall toward their overall team score.
But when they rotated to floor for their final event, they found a fresh start.
“What I was really proud of was that our team really rallied and came to floor like nothing had happened and fought for every detail,” said coach Janelle McDonald.
In front of a crowd of nearly 8,000 – an attendance record for a UCLA gymnastics home opener – the blue and gold bounced back from a less-than-ideal beam rotation.
Sophomore Emily Lee made her floor debut in the leadoff spot and put up a 9.850 to begin the rotation. Scores rose from there, with a high of a nearly-perfect 9.975 from sophomore Jordan Chiles in the fifth spot.
Chiles said the high-scoring floor rotation was evidence of how the team responds to adversity with positivity.
“Yes, we did have a bumpy beam, but we were able to pull out something,” Chiles said. “We believed with everything we could.”
The Bruins have long spoken about the importance of the “floor party” to end their home meets with a flourish.
Prior to Sunday, UCLA had been on the road for three straight weeks, meaning it had yet to finish a meet on floor. And in each of the Bruins’ previous meets, their final rotation marked their lowest event score of the competition.
Lee said coming home after beginning the season with three away meets provided an extra boost of energy that enabled her team to finish on a high note on an event it is known for.
“Being on the road for so long, we had to produce that amount of energy ourselves,” Lee said. “So to have Pauley all around us, … that was just crazy, especially for our first meet. It helped so much.”
At the conclusion of the floor rotation, UCLA finished with a 49.625, its highest single-event team score of the year, and tied for the highest floor score of any team in the country this season. It maintained its No. 2 ranking on the event for the second straight week.
The high mark wasn’t enough to win the meet, as the two teams finished in a tie. But McDonald said the Bruins aren’t focused on the scores, but rather bringing consistent energy and competing in a way that makes them proud.
“I wasn’t really watching the back and forth at all,” McDonald said. “I was just really hoping that we could rally for a great floor party and just be really proud of how we finished the competition today, and we just did just that.”
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