Acro Heads To Hawaii For Final Road Trip Of The Regular Season

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team heads to Hawaii for its final road trip of the regular season. The Ducks and Sharks will square off for the second time this year in the final leg of their home-and-home series.

UO won the first meeting between the two teams in early February at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon won that meet 280.100-267.595, dropping only two heats to Hawai'i Pacific.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The meet will be live streamed at hpusharks.com. For score updates throughout the meet follow @OregonAcroTumb.

THE SIX EVENTS
Compulsory – The Ducks head into Monday's meet 3-2 overall after coming in second in UO's last outing, a tri-meet against No. 4 Quinnipiac and No. 6 Gannon. Oregon and Quinnipiac traded the lead throughout the meet with UO winning two events and the Bobcats winning three. UO managed to take the lead heading into the final event of the night, but came in third with Gannon winning the team event, to take second overall.

Acro – Oregon's season-high acro event score of 29.55 was recorded the last time UO and Hawai'i Pacific faced one another. Seniors Alexis Cross and Taylor Galvin along with freshman Calyx Hampton closed out the event with a season-high 9.95 in the seven-element acro heat.

Pyramid – The Pyramid event has been arguably UO's best event this season with the Ducks averaging a score of 29.275 for the event. Both of Oregon's 10s this year have come in the pyramid, the first during the pyramid heat of the compulsory event at Baylor, the second during the open pyramid heat during the meet at Baylor as well. Despite coming in third for the pyramid event during UO's tri-meet, the Ducks did score a season-high 9.85 in the synchronized pyramid heat.

Toss - UO's team of senior Annelyse Robinson along with juniors Casi Jackson, Samantha Little, Caroline Matos and freshman Yeelena Faustino have been major factors in getting the Ducks off to a great start in the toss event. The five person team has been rock solid in the 450 salto toss heat averaging a score of 9.75 throughout the first four meets. The Ducks season-high score of 9.85 in the opening heat came during the Ducks first meeting against HPU.

Tumbling – The Ducks put themselves in prime position to win the tri-meet against QU and GU thanks to a stellar performance during the tumbling event. UO recorded season-high scores in four of the six heats to finish with a season-high 57.00 for the event. Senior Taylor Galvin closed out the event with a season-high 9.90 in the open tumbling pass as Oregon scored back-to-back 9.85s in the fourth and fifth heats.

Team – Monday's meet will mark the first return trip to Hawai'i Pacific for head coach Keenyn Won and assistant coach Jax Jeffries since leaving the program to join Oregon last June. Since HPU's program inception in 2014, the Sharks and the Ducks have had very close ties. Won was named the Sharks first head coach with Jeffries a senior on HPU's inaugural team. Hawai'i Pacific is now led by former Oregon student-athlete and volunteer assistant coach Haley Garelick along with two-time Oregon All-American Krista Phillips brought on as an assistant coach.

THE 2018 SCHEDULE
The acro team will host three home meets this season, including a tri-meet with Quinnipiac and Gannon on March 11. In addition to the tri-meet, the Ducks will participate in home-and-home series with Hawai'i Pacific, Coach Won's former school, as well as three-time defending national champions Baylor. This year's NCATA National Championships will take place from April 26-28 in Erie, Pa.

POLL POSITION
For the third straight season, the Ducks are ranked second in the NCATA Coaches Poll. The Ducks were six points shy of three-time reigning NCATA national champion Baylor, which was ranked first. Oregon received six first-place votes, with the Bears receving the remaining 11. All but one of UO's opponents this season are ranked in the top 10 with Quinnipiac fourth, Hawai'i Pacific fifth and Gannon sixth.

SCOUTING REPORT
This will be the second time this season the Ducks and Sharks have faced off. Oregon won the first meeting this year by a score of 280.100 to 267.595. HPU has gone 2-2 since facing Oregon for a season record of 2-4. The Sharks picked up their first two wins of the season in their last outing, downing West Liberty and Davis & Elkins in a tri-meet, March 9. Hawai'i Pacific won all six events during the tri-meet.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
If the past is any indication, the Ducks will have a big edge in their three home meets this season. In the seven years since joining the NCATA, the Ducks are 28-2 all-time when competing at Matthew Knight Arena. This includes being the overall winner in five home tri-meets as well as hosting the 2011 NCATA National Championships. Oregon's only two losses at home have both come against Baylor in 2015 and 2016. The Ducks snapped their two-meet home losing streak against the Bears last season, winning the first of three matchups with the Bears.

STORIED HISTORY
Since the NCATA's inception in 2011, the Ducks have won four of seven NCATA National Championships. The Ducks have reached the national championship finals all seven years, recording second-place finishes the past three seasons in a row. In that seven-year span, UO has a 65-11 meet record, including a total of 40 individual event titles and 17 All-Americans.

#CREATE IT
This season marks a new attitude for the Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling team under its motto 'Create It.' The idea behind the expression is that in order to have success, you must create it for yourself. The team's actions, attitudes and dedication, both on and off the mat, will be the building blocks to acheiving the Ducks' goal of bringing the NCATA National Championship back to Eugene.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following Monday's meet, the Ducks will close out the season hosting No. 1 Baylor Sunday, Apr. 8, at 5 p.m. PT.