Ducks Seek to Advance to NCATA National Championship Finals

WACO, Texas - The No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team advances to the semifinal round of the NCATA National Championship against No. 3 Azusa Pacific on Friday, April 26 at 3:00 p.m. in the Ferrell Center. The Ducks are 16-1 overall against Azusa Pacific and have already defeated the Cougars twice this season.

HOW TO FOLLOW
NCATA Tournament Central can be found at baylorbears.com. Each meet will also be broadcasted live courtesy of baylorbears.com. For score updates throughout the meet, fans can follow @OregonAcroTumb on Instagram and Twitter.

THE SIX EVENTS
Compulsory – The Ducks are headed to the semifinals after defeating No. 7 Hawaii Pacific in the quarterfinal round, 273.500-262.285, on Thursday, April 25. The Ducks' highest heat score of the meet came in the compulsory toss with a score of 9.875.

Acro – Seniors Casi Jackson and Caroline Matos and junior Katie Bachman led the Ducks in the acro event during the quarterfinal meet with a 9.700 in the six-element heat.

Pyramid – The Ducks have been lights out in the pyramid event this season, averaging an event score of 29.26 out of 30 possible points. Oregon has especially shined in the open pyramid, averaging a 9.82 across all eight meets. Casi Jackson, Caroline Matos, Calyx Hampton, Addie Lacewell and Samantha Little matched their highest heat score of the meet against Hawaii Pacific with a 9.875 in the open pyramid.

Toss - UO took home the most individual event titles in the toss event during the 2018 NCATA National Championship. Oregon earned allocates in the 450 salto toss and synchronized toss. The Ducks have registered 12 toss titles at the NCATA National Championship since the organization's inception in 2010.

Tumbling – Oregon has a history of sweeping in the tumbling event at the NCATA National Championship. The Ducks earned individual event titles in the open and six-element passes last season, while registering 19 individual tumbling titles throughout program history.

Team – The Ducks are 5-3 in the team event this season and have an average of 94.69 across all eight meets. Oregon has seen an overall improvement of 8.77 points in their team event throughout the season. The Ducks earned a season-high of 98.40 in the team event at Azusa Pacific on March 12, improving vastly from their low of 89.63 at Quinnipiac on Feb. 17.

THE 2019 SCHEDULE
The Ducks finished the regular season 5-2, falling only to No. 1 Baylor. Oregon defeated a ranked opponent four times this season, including Quinnipiac, Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific. Along the way, UO recorded two scores that ranked among the program's top-five all-time scores with a 29.50 in the toss event vs. Arizona Christian on Feb. 23 and a 29.45 in the acro event at Baylor on April 7.

NCATA WEEKLY AWARDS
Oregon has had six players honored throughout the season with NCATA weekly awards. Casi Jackson, Addie Lacewell and Yeelena Faustino each earned Athlete of the Week titles once, and Payton Coon received Specialist of the Week honors once. Jackson, Coon, Hannah Blair and Calyx Hampton also received honor mention recognition throughout the season.

POLL POSITION
The Ducks are seeded at No. 2 in postseason competition heading into the NCATA National Championship. Oregon has remained consistent all season in the No. 2 position, trailing only Baylor.

NCATA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The NCATA National Championship will be held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, from April 25-27. Tickets are currently on sale on thencata.org.

SCOUTING REPORT
Azusa Pacific finished the regular season with an overall record of 5-2, while defeating ranked opponents Hawaii Pacific and King. The Cougars advanced to the semifinal round of the NCATA National Championship after defeating No. 6 Converse, 267.190-258.555.

STORIED HISTORY
Since the NCATA's inception in 2010, the Ducks have won four of eight NCATA National Championships. In that eight-year span, UO tallied a 70-15 meet record, including a total of 45 individual event titles.