March 26, 2007

DAVIS, Calif. - Despite the semblance of a four-team meet, Friday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's gymnastics championships is, in many ways, a two-way rivalry match between UC Davis and meet host Seattle Pacific. The Aggies have edged the Falcons in all three meetings in 2007, but it was SPU that prevailed in last year's conference event.

Both UC Davis and Seattle Pacific are coming off season-high performances from the previous weekend. The Aggies scored a 193.150 in a tough four-team home meet on Friday. Junior Carrie Lujan finished in a tie for second on vault at 9.800 then hit a career-best 9.800 on floor exercise as a pinch-hitter for teammate Michelle Kulovitz. That same night, Seattle Pacific's Ashley Houghting scored a 39.350 in the all-around to set a Brougham Pavilion record and lead the Falcons to a school-record 193.725 against Washington.

"Seattle scored higher than anything we've done all year. They definitely look like they are peaking, and it's their home court," said UC Davis head coach John Lavallee. "We have now beaten them three times this year - at home, at Seattle and at Boise. I can't imagine they're very happy about that. It's a good source of motiviation for them, so we have to make sure we bring our `A' game Friday."

Indeed, the Aggies have held the edge in each meeting between the two rivals this season. Freshman Tanya Ho won the individual vault and scored a 38.700 in the all-around during the January 19 dual at Brougham, which UC Davis won by almost two full points. In early March, SPU scored a then-high 192.050 on the neutral turf of Boise State's Taco Bell Arena, but the Aggies bettered that with a 192.775. One week later, a 9.875 on floor exercise by UC Davis junior Andi Dolinsky helped hold off a late Falcon charge as the Aggies prevailed, 192.450-191.700, at their own ARC Pavilion.

Lavallee has already enjoyed a strong debut season at the UC Davis helm. The current regional-qualifying score of 192.275 is the highest in school history, the vault squad has posted the top five scores in school history and the bars team has hit the No. 2 all-time mark in program annals. Despite this, the first-year coach remains convinced he has not seen his team at its best.

"I don't think our team has done everything it's capable of," Lavallee said. "Even on Friday we counted a fall on beam and counted a floor routine with a seven-tenth fall and an out-of-bounds. Realistically, we're looking at a mid-194 if we can come out and get the job done. We really haven't hit our peak. We haven't been at full strength. There is definitely some room to get the pedal all the way down to the floor."

Friday's UC Davis-SPU rivalry carries yet another wrinkle that has quite literally remained unseen to even the keenest observers. With Sacramento State leap-frogging Cal in the West Region rankings, Tanya Ho has slid from sixth to fifth among the region's at-large individual all-arounders. However, Falcon senior Sarah Sullivan has not yet appeared in those rankings due to an insufficient number of meets to qualify. Injuries had restricted Sullivan in the early portion of the year, but the MPSF Championships would provide her with a sixth score - enough to move her into the all-around standings.

With an all-around score of 37.700 or better, Sullivan will make her debut on the West leaderboard just ahead of Ho's RQS of 38.150. Also assuming Sacramento State stays ahead of Cal in the team rankings, Sullivan would thus bump the Aggie freshman for that fifth and final ticket to the regional meet. The Falcon veteran scored a 38.825 at home on Friday and a 38.775 against UC Davis on March 9.

Also competing in the MPSF Championships are Alaska Anchorage and Air Force. The Seawolves, who enter the meet winless at 0-11, hit a season-high 190.275 in a dual loss against Ball State on Sunday. The Falcons lost a home dual to Cal, scoring 185.600. Air Force hit its 2007 best on February 24, posting a 186.275 at Western Michigan.

The sixth-annual MPSF Gymnastics Championships starts at 7 p.m. on Friday at Brougham Pavilion.