Beavers Topple No. 7 UCLA

Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - Freshman Mandi Rodriguez “stuck” the landing on her first tumbling pass on the floor exercise energizing the crowd and the Beavers rode the momentum provided by the home crowd of 3,086 to a victory over No. 7 UCLA Friday night.

The 16th-ranked Beavers were led by Jami Lanz, who used three 9.900’s (bars, beam and floor) to score a career-high 39.550 in the all-around to win the individual title.

OSU, which had not beaten the Bruins in the teams’ last 10 meetings going back to 2003, eclipsed the 49- point mark on all four events for the first time this season tallying season-highs on bars (49.100) and floor (49.275) to win the meet with another season-high score, 196.650-196.375.

Rodriguez went on to score 9.925 to win the floor exercise and tally the highest score of her career on any event.

“When I finished my first pass I heard the crowd go wild and it really motivated me to finish strong,” said Rodriguez.

The Beavers trailed at the midway point by .375 when they approached their strongest event, the balance beam. OSU, which had the ninth-ranked beam team in the nation entering the night, put together a solid set.

Junior Courtney Dennison recorded a season-high 9.775 to set the tone for the Beavers and was followed by freshman Laura-Ann Chong (9.825), redshirt-freshman Brooke Barclay (9.850) and sophomore Tasha Smith (9.825), who all tallied solid scores.

Lanz finished the scoring for the Beavers with her second 9.900 of the evening.

Meanwhile, the Bruins did a solid job on the floor exercise, but due to injuries were only able to muster five competitors.

Oregon State’s beam performance left the Beavers just one-tenth of a point behind the Bruins heading into the final stanza.

Junior Megan Devencenzi scored a 9.775 to lead off the Beavs floor lineup before Rodriguez ignited the crowd.

Following Rodriguez performance was sophomore Kera Bolen, who recorded the first 9.900 of her career, and then Lanz, who finished the best meet of her career with yet another 9.900.

Smith anchored the floor team and, despite stepping out of bounds on her first tumbling pass, finished the scoring with a 9.775 to wrap up the win.

The Beavers begin a stretch of three consecutive road meets next week at Washington where they’ll also face Seattle Pacific at Hec Edmundson Arena at 7:00 PM.

OSU’s next home meet is the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational when the Beavers host Utah, Washington and Seattle Pacific.

Tickets are on sale now.

Other notes from the meet:

- OSU’s 196.650 ties the 19th highest score ever recorded by the Beavers.

- Jami Lanz’s score of 39.550 ties for the 12th best all-around score ever by an OSU gymnast.

- In all OSU gymnasts set or tied seven career-highs:

Mandi Rodriguez, V (9.900 tied)

Jami Lanz, UB (9.900 tied)

Laura-Ann Chong, UB (9.825)

Jami Lanz, BB (9.900 tied)

Mandi Rodriguez, FX (9.925)

Kera Bolen, FX (9.900)

Jami Lanz, AA (39.550)

Team Scores: No. 16 Oregon State 196.650; No. 7 UCLA 196.375.

All-Around: 1. Jami Lanz (OSU) 39.550; T2. Ariana Berlin (UCLA), Ashley Peckett (UCLA) 39.250. Other OSU Score: Tasha Smith 39.225; Mandi Rodriguez 38.900.

Vault: 1. Tasha Schwikert (UCLA) 9.950; T2. Mandi Rodriguez (OSU), Ashley Peckett (UCLA) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Yuki Lamb 9.875; Jami Lanz 9.850; Tasha Smith 9.850; Brooke Barclay 9.625; Megan Devencenzi 9.525 (Exhibition – Whitney Watson 9.550).

Bars: T1. Jami Lanz (OSU), Tasha Schwikert (UCLA), Anna Li (UCLA) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Mandi Rodriguez 9.850; Laura-Ann Chong 9.800; Keegan Fitzgerald 9.775; Tasha Smith 9.775; Kera Bolen 9.725 (Exhibition – D'Anna Piro 9.775).

Beam: T1. Jami Lanz (OSU), Tasha Schwikert (UCLA) 9.900; 3. Brooke Barclay (OSU) 9.850 Other OSU Scores: Laura-Ann Chong 9.825; Tasha Smith 9.825; Courtney Dennison 9.775; Mandi Rodriguez 9.225 (Exhibition – Yuki Lamb 9.250).

Floor: 1. Mandi Rodriguez (OSU) 9.925; T2. Kera Bolen (OSU), Jami Lanz (OSU) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Megan Devencenzi 9.775; Tasha Smith 9.775; Laura-Ann Chong 9.050.

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