TOWSON, MD. — The University of New Hampshire visited SECU Arena in Towson, Md. to face off against Towson University and Temple University in the Towson Tri-Meet.
Right before Sunday’s event took place, George Washington University had to withdraw from the event due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns.
UNH had some momentum coming into this meet scoring 195.300 or better in its last three meets. They were coming off their season’s best score of 196.125 last week vs. North Carolina State.
UNH had a slow start in Sunday’s matchup in the first rotation. The Wildcats finished in third with a score of 48.725. Towson started off a little faster with a score of 48.900 in the first rotation, giving them a second place finish. First was Temple with a score of 49.075. However, not all bad news for UNH through the first rotation as sophomore Robyn Kelley had the highest point value for the vault portion of the meet with a score of 9.875.
In the second rotation, UNH battled back to second place with a score of 49.050. Temple and Towson both earned the same score of 48.575 in the second rotation. Towson still had a slight edge over the Wildcats going into the third rotation with a total score of 98.475 and Temple fell into third place with a total score of 97.650. Not only did UNH have the best overall score in the second rotation, but sophomore Kylie Gorgenyi and senior Kylie Kratchwell both scored 9.850 on the bars which was an event high.
Going into the balance beam UNH found themselves in second place with a score of 97.775. They ended the third rotation with an overall score of 146.825 and a third rotation score of 49.050 which was second best in the field. Temple ended up winning the third rotation with a marginally higher score than UNH with a score of 49.15 but they found themselves just barely behind UNH in the total score. Towson ended up finishing last during the third rotation with a score of 49.025 and a total score of 146.500.
Leading the third rotation on the beam was UNH junior Hailey Lui who scored 9.900, and UNH sophomore Robyn Kelley was a close second totaling a score of 9.875. UNH sophomore Alyssa Worthington was also right behind Kelley, totaling a score of 9.850. This group helped the ‘Cats extend their total score to 146.825.
UNH needed to close strong in the fourth and final rotation to win the day. Kelley had been dominating throughout the day Sunday and continued to do so on the floor. The sophomore scored a 9.925 which led all competitors on the floor.
The ‘Cats finished slightly behind Towson in the final rotation with a score of 49.275 to Towson’s 49.350. However, it was just enough for them to place first in Sunday’s match. The final rotation pushed their total score to 196.100. Temple was a close second in Sunday’s match totaling a score of 196.025 and finishing in last was the host Towson, who was not able to get it done in their home arena.
With this win, UNH advanced their record to 9-3 on the season and to 5-1 in the head-to-head EAGL matchups.
Kelley and the ‘Cats look to stay hot in next week’s EAGL Championship and are looking to punch their ticket into the NCAA Regional Championships on April 1.
Photo courtesy of Shannon Dean.
