March 8, 2015
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| 196.750 | 195.900 |
| WVU Coliseum | Morgantown, W.Va. | |
| Results (PDF) |
| <!a href="http://www.gopsusports.com/view.gal?id=166782" target="_blank">Photo Gallery (PSU) |
| <!a href="https://gopsusports.com/" target="_blank">VIDEO: Postmeet Interviews --> |
| MEET RESULTS | ||||
| PSU | WVU | |||
| Team | 196.750 | 195.900 | ||
| V | 49.025 | 48.675 | ||
| UB | 49.300 | 49.225 | ||
| BB | 49.150 | 48.900 | ||
| FX | 49.275 | 49.100 | ||
| EVENT WINNERS | |
| Gymnast, School - Score | |
| AA | B. Tsang, PSU - 39.475 |
| V | Sibson/Tsang, PSU - 9.850 |
| UB | Two Gymnasts Tied - 9.950 |
| BB | K. Welsh, PSU - 9.875 |
| FX | E. Sibson, PSU - 9.950 |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A pair of Penn State top-10 performances and the 11th highest score in program history propelled the No. 11 Penn State women's gymnastics team a 196.750-195.900 victory over West Virginia on Sunday (March 8) afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
Senior Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) and sophomore Emma Sibson (Allen, Texas) both posted scores of 9.950 on the afternoon, with Welsh doing so on the uneven bars and Sibson on the floor exercise, to enter the top-10 in Penn State history.
The team score of 196.750 is tied for the 11th highest score in program history with the 1999 team's showing vs. Florida on Jan. 30, and is the fourth highest road score in PSU history. The Nittany Lions posted the top team score on all four events for the seventh time this season, including a season-best 49.300 on the uneven bars.
"It was a good showing on the road today with a 196.750," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "We had a fall on uneven bars and vault, which was kind of odd for us, but we were able to recover on both events. We also had our troubles on floor exercise and balance beam. It wasn't a perfect day by any means, but it was a really great team effort today on the road. This kind of performance should lead us into a good week of training and keep us focused on what we have to do next weekend at the B1G Five Meet."
For the fourth time this season, freshman Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) claimed the all-around, as she placed among the top-three finishers on each event. The rookie posted her second highest all-around score of the season at 39.475 and posted a career-best 9.900 on the uneven bars to finish second overall on the event. She won her 11th individual event title of the year when she tied for the top spot on the vault at 9.850. Tsang also tied for second on the balance beam (9.850) and placed third on the floor exercise (9.875).
Sibson claimed a pair of individual event titles at West Virginia to mark her first career multi-win performance. She won her sixth career vault title by tying atop the standings at 9.850 and added her first career floor exercise crown with a score of 9.950. Her floor exercise score is a career best and sits tied for ninth in Penn State history. Sibson also scored 9.775 on the balance beam to place eighth overall.
A 9.950 on the uneven bars pushed Welsh into a tie for third in the Penn State record books and gave her the first record-book worthy performance on the event since Madison Merriam posted an identical score on Feb. 23, 2013. The effort tied Welsh for the event win and the senior added another win on the final rotation with a 9.875 on the balance beam. It is the second straight week that the senior claimed two event titles in the same meet, winning the vault and floor exercise last weekend vs. Brockport, Iowa State and Penn, and gives her nine event wins on the season.
Following the standard road rotation, Penn State opened up the meet on the uneven bars and posted a season-best 49.300 on the event to open up a 0.625 edge on the Mountaineers. Alex Witt (Odessa, Fla.) continued her steady season with a 9.800 to open the rotation and Welsh closed it with a 9.950 to tie for the event win and equal the third highest score in program history. Tsang's 9.900 tied for third on the event, while fellow freshman Chanen Raygoza (Upland, Calif.) scored a career-high 9.850 to finish fifth. West Virginia started their meet with a 48.675 on the vault, led by Jaida Lawrence's 9.775.
The second rotation sent the Lions to the vault, where they scored 49.025. The top three finishers on the event donned blue and white leotards, as Sibson and Tsang tied for the title at 9.850 and senior Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) placed third at 9.800. The Mountaineers gained some ground during the second rotation with a49.225 score on the uneven bars, which included a 9.950 from Alexa Goldberg to tie for the event crown.
A 49.275 on the floor exercise pushed Penn State's lead to nearly one full point, 147.600-146.800, behind another record book worth performance, this time from Sibson. The sophomore set a career-best and won her first career floor exercise title with a 9.950. The score moved her into a tie for ninth on the Penn State floor exercise charts and was the first record book worth performance since Sharaya Musser's 9.950 on March 17, 2012. Tsang finished third overall on the apparatus with a 9.875 and Sanabria-Robles tied for fourth at 9.850. West Virginia scored 48.900 on the balance beam in rotation three, highlighted by a 9.825 from both Brooklyn Doggette and Beth Deal.
The final rotation watched Penn State post a 49.150 on the balance beam to tie their third highest score of the season on the apparatus. Welsh topped the event charts with a 9.875, while Christina Postiglione (Selden, N.Y.) finished second behind a career-best 9.850. Tsang equaled Postiglione's 9.850 to tie for second on the event and give PSU its second podium sweep of the afternoon. The Mountaineers finished on the floor exercise with 49.100 and Dayah Haley claimed runner-up laurels on the event with a 9.925.
The Nittany Lions will close out the regular season with in Minneapolis for the B1G Five Meet on Saturday, March 14. Penn State will compete with host No. 16 Minnesota, along with No. 25 Iowa, No. 5 Michigan and Rutgers.
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