No. 18 Ohio State women’s gymnastics rallied late in the fourth rotation against Kent State and Bowling Green to win the All-Ohio meet Friday.
Head coach Meredith Paulicivic said the Buckeyes (4-3) have seen their opposition’s best in recent competition, forcing her team to remain near-flawless.
“Every single team has their absolute best meet against us,” Paulicivic said. “Every single time like season-high scores, always against us. We can’t afford to make mistakes against anybody.”
Ohio State started the night on vault, where it outpaced both Kent State and Bowling Green with a team score of 48.925. The Golden Flashes and Falcons kept it close, though, producing team scores of 48.675 and 48.700, respectively.
Despite two Buckeyes scoring an individual score higher than 9.8 in vault, they were still unable to win the rotation as Kent State dominated on the balance beam, producing a team score of 49.225.
Kent State was led on the balance beam by individual scores of 9.875 by junior Rachel DeCavitch and senior Riley Danielson.
Senior Sydney Jennings scored a team-high of 9.85 while freshman Jenna Hlavach reached an individual score of 9.8.
The second rotation consisted of uneven bars for Ohio State, where two Buckeye gymnasts scored above a 9.9. Junior Elexis Edwards and senior Colby Miller each produced a 9.925, leading to a team score of 49.075.
But Edwards and Miller’s efforts could not produce a win on the uneven bars for the Buckeyes, as Kent State outscored Ohio State by .125 in the event.
In the third event, junior Alexis Hankins scored a team-high of 9.9 on the balance beam, which pushed the Buckeyes to 147.150 to remain competitive with Bowling Green, which had a team score of 146.7, and Kent State’s 147.7 lead.
During the fourth and final event which saw the Buckeyes on floor, Ohio State had four Buckeyes score a team-high 9.9.
Paulicivic said the floor has been the Buckeyes’ strong suit this season.
“Floor has been our strength all year,” Paulicivic said. “Once we get there, I feel pretty good as a team.”
The team’s high scores during the final event pushed it past Kent State and Bowling Green to gain a collective score of 196.575, just .2 ahead of Kent State’s 196.375.
The Buckeyes will host the University of California and the University of Pittsburgh for the final regular season meet Friday.
