PITTSBURGH – The No. 15 Duquesne acrobatics & tumbling team posted a season-high 256.210 points on Tuesday night while hosting No. 1 Baylor at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The nine-time national champion Bears won the meet, 275.030-256.210.
Duquesne (3-2) won two heats — open pyramid and trio pass tumbling — while recording season highs in seven heats and two event totals. "I'm really proud of the young women that went out there and competed today," said head coach
Michaela Soper. "Going against the number one team in the nation, that's a really tough opponent, and honestly, they leveled up and played up to our opponent, and I couldn't be happier."
The Dukes closed the opening section with an 8.65 in compulsory tumbling, their best of the season, with
Briella Unger,
Lea Philarom,
Claire Piper,
Carly Longenecker,
Michela Del Rosso,
Mireya Maymi,
Alaina Baumgartner and
Clare Frantti competing.
The Acro event was a sweep of season highs for Duquesne. The five-element group of
Alia Ellis,
Abby McDermott,
Taylor Hollis and Longenecker posted a 9.65, while the six-element squad of
Sienna Johnson,
Ailee Sheehan,
Mia Dipner,
Abby Eberle, Baumgartner, Del Rosso and Maymi recorded an 8.35. The seven-element group of
Genevieve Muise,
Anna Trent, Dipner and Eberle, finished with a 9.50, bringing the event total to a season-best 27.50.
Rebekah Hendley,
McKenna Fisher, Ellis, Dipner and McDermott teamed up to score a season-best 9.75 in the open pyramid, outscoring the top-ranked Bears by 0.05.
The Dukes added a pair of season highs in synchronized and open toss. The synchronized squad of
Natalie Angland,
Madeline Hollingsworth, Johnson, Trent, Dipner, Ellis, Eberle, Unger, Piper and Muise posted an 8.50 to match their season high, while Johnson, Trent, Angland, Dipner and Ellis followed with a season-best 9.20 in the open toss. The 26.30 toss total tied a season high from the Missouri State meet.
Sarah Golie, Frantti and Johnson secured a victory in the trio pass with an 8.350, edging Baylor's 8.300.
Duquesne closed the meet with an 86.61 in the team event, just 0.80 shy of its best score.
Baylor (6-0) has now won 44 consecutive meets dating back to 2021.
UP NEXT
Duquesne will host No. 14 LIU on Sunday at 3 p.m. inside the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Admission is free.
POST-MEET PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach
Michaela Soper
FOLLOW THE DUKES
Follow the Duquesne Acrobatics and Tumbling team all season online at
GoDuquesne.com and on
Twitter (X) and
Instagram (@duqacrotumb).
ABOUT ACROBATICS & TUMBLING
For more information on the sport of Acrobatics & Tumbling, visit
TheNCATA.org.
