March 11, 2007

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THIS WEEK
Idle for final examinations.
Aggies return to action on Mar. 23.

LAST WEEK
Mar. 9 - SEATTLE PACIFIC (1st, 192.450)
Mar. 11 - at Sacramento State (2nd, 191.975)

NOTES
TO RECAP: Junior Andi Dolinsky, selected as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week on the previous Tuesday, scored career highs on floor (9.875) and uneven bars (9.850) in Friday's win over Seattle Pacific... Her floor score came right in time: SPU had hit a season-best 49.050 on the apparatus in the previous rotation, then had pulled to within less than a point by the time Dolinsky began her routine... Freshman Tanya Ho and junior Carrie Lujan took part in a three-way tie for first place on vault at 9.750... Dolinsky and senior Brandi Forte shared top honors on bars at 9.850.

UC Davis swept the top three vault scores in Sunday's Causeway Classic dual at Sacramento State... In order, junior Michelle Kulovitz (9.775), Ho (9.750) and Lujan (9.725) finished 1-2-3... The vault squad broke the 48-point barrier for the 10th time in as many meets, finishing at 48.425... UC Davis also hit a season-best 48.100 on balance beam... Senior Mari Inouye placed second in the event with a career-high 9.775... She also led the team with a 9.625 on floor exercise... Ho chipped in a 9.725 on beam, good for third in the meet... Senior Julia Richards was fourth on beam at 9.700.

UC Davis jumped two places to No. 8 in the West Region rankings, holding a 192.020 regional-qualifying score (RQS)... Boise State is close behind at 192.010, while Cal State Fullerton is 10th at 192.005... The Aggies trail Cal, which scored a 194.575 on Friday to help boost their average to 192.400... Ho (15th) and Dolinsky (18th) continue to hold top-20 regional rankings on vault and floor, respectively.

UP NEXT: The Aggies take a 12-day layoff from competition, a break that includes final examinations week on campus... The first meet back will be the home finale, a quadrangular on March 23... It features San Jose State, Sacramento State and Cal - currently fifth, sixth and seventh in the West Region... The Spartans scored 193.175 in a loss to Southern Utah on Friday, hitting the 193-point barrier for the seventh straight meet... The Hornets had broken that milestone in the three previous meets before the relatively conservative scoring in Sunday's Causeway Classic held them to "only" 192.625... SJSU and Sac State face off in a Western Athletic Conference battle on March 18 as a prelude to the Aggie quadrangular... Cal, which will host the West Region meet, has duals at Denver and Air Force before entering Aggie territory on the 23rd.

HEAD COACH JOHN LAVALLEE
"Really for us, [Sunday] a big step forward for us. We hit 22 out of 24 routines and handled ourselves in a tough environment and a big meet against Sacramento State. It was the best night we've had so far."

"Overall, we had a great weekend. The team did a great job preparing mentally for not just two meets, but two big meets. We had our conference rivals on Friday then our crosstown rivals on Sunday night, with and the Causeway Classic implications involved in that. We really performed well."

"We really need this break right now. To get to this point in the season, we've had a lot of gymnastics and the body gets tired and sore.The brain gets tired and sore. Having a little break is good for us. We're looking forward to the quad meet on the 23rd at home. That should be a big event for us. We have an opportunity to come out, do well and surprise some people."

On March 23 meet: "The three teams -- Cal, San Jose and Sac State -- are probably going to qualify for the last three spots for regionals, so the meet is going to be a knife fight between the three of them. And we're going to be in there, rockin' the apple cart."