The UCA STUNT Bears concluded their first regular season with four losses April 6-7 at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.
In the first game of the tournament, the Bears were defeated by the Missouri Baptist Spartans 18-2.
That afternoon, the Bears stumbled into another defeat by the Drury University Panthers, falling 14-8.
“Our first day was a little rough, but we really turned it around and played better on day two,” coach Alyssa Morrow said. “We realized that we could play better than we did that first day, and credit to our players, they put together some really good routines.”
The Bears were dealt two more losses on the second day of the tournament from the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers and the Trevecca Nazarene Trojans.
The Bears were only able to wrangle 8 total points on the second day losing 13-5 to the Pioneers and 17-3 to the Trojans.
Despite the defeats, Morrow said the STUNT Bears have grown tremendously this season.
“I think we’ve improved drastically. If you watch the film from August, compared to this weekend, you wouldn’t believe that it was the exact same group of girls,” Morrow said. “We’ve grown so much, so many of our girls had little to no experience when they joined our team, so I think that makes the improvements even more noticeable.
“They’ve become sponges and learned a lot and really put in the work to become better. They’ve grown so much. The team that came in August could not do half of the things we did this weekend,” she said.
Freshman Flyer Olivia McKinney concurred that the Bears have grown over the regular season.
“We really proved that we’re becoming the team we want to be, for nationals and beyond,” McKinney said. “We’ve worked really hard, and we made a promise after the last tournament that we would show out this time, and I think we did.”
McKinney said the team was able to improve its performance throughout the season because the members began to bond with one another.
“Our team dynamic has changed a lot — we’re like a family now,” she said. “Performance-wise, since we’ve become closer, we’ve been able to show our grit and determination and work through different situations, and we’ve been able to do it together.
“Even for myself, I’ve grown as a leader, especially this spring. But it’s been so much more than just as an athlete, even just as a person, I have more confidence, more enthusiasm and a lot more strength as an individual,” McKinney said.
Morrow said the STUNT team has persevered through any challenges it has faced. This weekend, Morrow said she was most proud of flyer/tumbler junior Bailey Dougherty and flyer/tumbler sophomore Sajala Bell.
“Bailey hurt her hand on day one, but she continued to push and do pyramids all weekend long, and that’s not something a lot of people would push through,” Morrow said. “Sajala stepped up in some of Bailey’s spots and earned us some points in those partner stunts. She was one of those players who didn’t have any experience when she joined the team, so for her to just hop in and get placed in a new group and learn new things and earn us a point — that was a huge deal.”
McKinney said she was most proud of flyer/tumbler freshman Annabeth Watson.
“She’s worked really hard on her flying. At the beginning of the season, she wasn’t playing much, but she’s improved a lot and looks really good in the air,” McKinney said.
The STUNT Bears will compete April 13-14 at the NCAA Division I Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky, against four other teams for a national title.