This post was updated Feb. 14 at 8:00 p.m.
On Valentine’s Day, a packed Pauley Pavilion crowd was gifted a fourth consecutive perfect 10 on floor from senior Jordan Chiles.
No. 4 UCLA gymnastics (9-2, 5-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 9 Michigan (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) 197.725-196.975 in a Big Ten matchup on Saturday. The Bruins earned their second-highest overall tally of the 2026 season and notched a second-best 49.650 on floor.
Chiles’ floor score also marked her fifth consecutive meet scoring a perfect 10.
Junior Katelyn Rosen led off the floor lineup, keeping her streak of 9.900-caliber performances alive after scoring two scores under 9.700 early in the season. Senior Ciena Alipio followed with a career-high 9.950 performance, earning a perfect 10 from one judge and delivering a statement to bounce back from a season-low of 9.625 last meet.
“Once Katelyn goes and we know she hits it, we are in our zone. Nobody can touch us,” said freshman Tiana Sumanasekera. “It is no thoughts, just confidence in doing what we know how to do.”
Junior Sydney Barros tied her career-high 9.900 mark, and Sumanasekera rounded out the trio of 9.900 marks.
The squad’s annual Alumni Meet brought a host of former UCLA gymnasts back to Pauley Pavilion, including recent 2025 graduates Brooklyn Moors, Mia Erdoes and Emily Lee. 2018 NCAA Champion and alumnus Christine Peng-Peng Lee sang the national anthem.
“I grew up watching a lot of the people that were here today and was inspired in our sport by them,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “For them to show up with so much joy and passion still for the sport and for this program, it means everything.”
Bars was UCLA’s lowest-ranked event in 2025 at No. 8 – but this year it has been its highest-ranked event, and UCLA sits at No. 3 in the nation.
The entire bars lineup continued that dominance. Every gymnast, including sophomore Mika Webster-Longin in her exhibition routine, stuck their dismounts en route to a 49.500 total, just half a tenth behind UCLA’s season-best 49.550 notched Jan. 30.
Freshman Nola Matthews earned a career-high 9.925 on the apparatus – her first time breaking the 9.900 threshold as a Bruin – a team-high-tying mark shared by Chiles. Sumanasekera also matched her career-high 9.900, and Ashlee Sullivan rounded out the trio of freshman 9.900 bars marks.
McDonald remarked on how Matthews has bought into the team culture of fighting to get into lineups.
“Today might not be my turn, but I want to work every single day that, when I am called upon, I am ready for my team to give it my all, and she (Matthews) does that beautifully,” said McDonald. “To get the stick today was a big deal for her.”
Alipio and Barros led the Bruins on beam with a pair of 9.900s – a career-high-tying mark for Barros. For the No. 3 ranked Alipio, this score was a season-low, as she came into the meet with a 9.942 average on the apparatus.
Chiles leaned back on her nearly-stuck landing, earning a 9.875 – only her third mark below 9.900 on the apparatus this season. Sumanasekera, similarly, scored below 9.800 on beam for only the second time in 2026 with a 9.775 that was dropped.
Rosen and freshman Jordis Eichman scored slightly above their respective season averages with a 9.850 and 9.825, respectively. The squad notched a 49.350 to close out the rotation.
Despite season-high tying 9.900 and 9.875 marks from Sumanasekera and Rosen, respectively, a 49.225 score on vault marked the Bruins’ lowest since their first meet of the season.
Seniors Madisyn Anyimi and Chiles both hopped backward to season-low scores of 9.750 and 9.825, respectively. Sophomore Riley Jenkins took a step back with her right foot, earning a 9.775 – only half a tenth over her season-worst mark.
“We are the best show in LA for a reason,” Chiles said. “No matter what, how we prove ourselves each and every weekend, we feed off each other.”
