The fourth-ranked Red Rocks scored a 197.650 to tie and advance to the NCAA Regional Finals with the University of Denver, Thursday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Utah did just enough to make sure they have a spot Saturday in the NCAA Regional Finals. Coach Carly Dockendorf said the Red Rocks are on the right path.
“Our goal today was to qualify for Saturday, and we did that,” Dockendorf said. “That was our mission. That was what we needed to do to continue on and make our way to Nationals.”
Utah started strong on the floor with a score of 49.575. Ashley Glynn opened the scoring with a 9.850, followed by an Ella Zirbes 9.875. The Red Rocks then had back-to-back 9.90 scores by both Avery Neff and Jaylene Gilstrap. Utah then closed out the rotation with standout performances from Makenna Smith and Grace McCallum both scoring 9.95s.
Utah led after the first rotation with a (49.575), Denver placed second (49.350), Stanford in third (49.350) and BYU in fourth (49.175).
Coach Dockendorf was happy with her teams performance on the floor.
“I thought we started off really big on floor,” Dockendorf said. “That was one of our best floor sets we’ve done this year.”
The Red Rocks scored a 49.400 on the vault to open the second rotation. Utah left a few points with landings but overall put it all together. Zirbes opened with a 9.85 followed by a McCallum 9.80. Neff scored the first stick and took home the NCAA Regional Vault Champion with a score of 9.95 tying her career high this season. Zoe Johnson bounced back in a big way after a Big 12 Championship fall, scoring a career-high of 9.925. After two rotations Utah remained in first place with a score of 98.975.
Dockendorf was proud of Johnson for coming back in a big way for the Red Rocks.
“The highlight from me in the vault rotation was Zoe. She’s been working so hard and her stick percentage in practice has been going up,” Dockendorf said. “I knew she was going to be fired up after falling at Big 12’s the other weekend. It’s taken her a little bit to get here, but she got here when we needed her the most.”
Utah scored 49.500 in the third rotation on the bars, with Smith and Glynn both scoring 9.85 to open the rotation. Amelie Morgan and Neff then scored back to back 9.90 before a Zirbes 9.85. Anchor McCallum ended the third rotation on a high note scoring her first perfect score on bars at the Hunstman. Utah maintained its lead in first place with a 148.475 over Denver (148.250), then Stanford in third (147.90) and BYU in fourth (146.850).
“I thought we did a really nice job on bars. We left some room with steps on dismount,” Dockendorf said. “I am so happy for Grace to finally get her 10. She’s earned that, and I’m so glad with two meets left in the Huntsman that she did that this year.”
The Red Rocks faltered a bit in the fourth rotation on the beam, scoring a 49.175. Morgan opened with a solid routine scoring a 9.90. Camie Winger scored a 9.700, followed by a Smith 9.825 and a McCallum 9.750. Then Neff scored a 9.90 to give her a 39.650 all-around score, which was good for first place. Anchor Ana Padurariu scored a 9.80 to finish the rotation for the Red Rocks.
Utah opened the door for Denver to get back in the meet and would tie for first place with an overall score of 197.650. Despite the tie, the Red Rocks still secured a spot in the NCAA Regional Finals this Saturday. Dockendorf knows her team will be ready when they step up to the beam next time.
“I think that they are very determined and I think they don’t like the way that that feels because they know that they’re capable of so much more,” Dockendorf said. “My guess is they’re going to come back pretty fired up on Saturday on that event.”
Utah takes on UCLA, Minnesota and Denver in the NCAA Regional Finals at the Jon. M Hunstman Center at 5 p.m. Saturday.
