UCA’s STUNT team held the splits over the weekend, winning two games and losing two games March 2-3 at Maryville University in St. Louis.
“Overall I am very proud of our team. Leaving this weekend with two wins and points scored on another Division I team is a great accomplishment and I think the girls really pushed through and proved to themselves that they’re capable of doing just as well throughout the duration of our season,” coach Alyssa Morrow said. “We faced a massive obstacle with one of our athletes getting injured 2 days before game day, and we had to rework every routine and put new people in her spots.
“Our girls worked so hard all weekend, stepped up in huge ways, and were constantly adapting and rising to the challenge. I couldn’t be more proud of how they represented our program this weekend,” she said.
On day one, the Bears fumbled against the Davenport University Panthers, falling 24-0. However, the Bears recovered later that day against the Central Methodist University Eagles, defeating them 11-9. The Bears conquered the Eagles in the first quarter 3-1 and continued leading in each quarter after.
“Our best game was against Central Methodist,” Morrows said. “We were neck and neck with them throughout the entire game and fought for every single point that we earned. There wasn’t a single moment anyone on our team fell short in that game. It came down to us almost going into overtime, but we pulled through and came out on top in the last routine of quarter four. That win felt very special and was very exciting.”
Sophomore backspot and tumbler Alexandria Applebaum said, “Our best game was against Central Methodist University. We had some friendly competition and pushed ourselves to perform better than ever before.”
The Bears met the same fate on day two.
Junior flyer/tumbler Crystal Vuong puts her arms in the air while standing at the top of a formation.
Starting strong against the Southwest Baptist University Bearcats, the UCA Bears earned a final score of 12-0.
However, the Bears were unable to defeat the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks, falling 20-6.
The Bears earned 3 points within the first two quarters but were down 7-3. Scoring 3 more points in the second half, the Bears were still unable to get ahead of the Skyhawks.
“The toughest game was against UT Martin, but even then it was still a great game,” Applebaum said. “We pushed through even when we were tired and scored points for the first time on another Division I team so that was very exciting.”
Morrows said several athletes shined this weekend, especially since the team had to make last-minute adjustments.
“Elizabeth Brasfield, Annabeth Watson, Emma Daves and Alex Appelbaum all stood out this weekend,” Morrows said. “Although these are only a few of the athletes who took on new routines and spots, these four stood out the most for their positivity and willingness to step in and do whatever they needed to do to help us earn points.
“There wasn’t a single moment that these girls weren’t encouraging someone while simultaneously pushing themselves and their teammates to stay focused and perform well this weekend,” she said.
Applebaum concurred that she was proud of the team’s performance this weekend.
“I’m extremely proud of myself and my team’s performance,” she said. “There’s always things to fix but I’m excited to celebrate the wins and get back to practice.”
Applebaum said, “I’m so incredibly proud of Annabeth Watson. This was her first weekend flying at a tournament and she hit every time. She brings such a positive energy to our tournaments.”
Both Morrows and Applebaum said the team’s goal for this season is to continue improving and having fun while doing so.
Morrows said, “Our main goal this season is to always perform better than the last time we performed. We are always striving to be better than ourselves and constantly improving. I would love to work towards adding a few more routines to compete with going forward so that we can put more out there when going against the bigger teams.”
Applebaum said, “As long as we do better than we did yesterday I’m happy. We’re going to keep pushing and continue to improve all the way through nationals.”
The STUNT Bears will compete again March 15-16 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bears will participate in a four-game tournament against the University of Kentucky, Maryville University, California Baptist University and the University of Tennessee at Martin.