Despite having a higher score than North Carolina in three of four rotations, UNC’s total dominance of the third rotation meant NC State gymnastics lost to the Tar Heels 195.300 – 195.025 in its dual meet this Friday, Feb. 12. This is the Wolfpack’s first dual meet loss of the season and second overall, finishing second to Pitt in a tri-meet on Jan. 31.
NC State started off hot on the uneven bars in what would be its best event of the night. The top three scores on the bars all belonged to NC State gymnasts: senior Katie Cox with a 9.875, sophomore Emily Shepard with a 9.900 and junior Meredith Robinson with a 9.875. All three achieved or tied their career high on the bars against UNC.
The Wolfpack had a solid showing on the vault, and the Wolfpack’s lead only grew after two rotations. Shepard and sophomore Chloe Negrete grabbed two of the top three scores on the vault, both scoring above a 9.800. UNC kept pace with the Pack however, so while NC State held decent-sized .475-point lead after two rotations, it was far from over for the Tar Heels.
It was in the third rotation where the wheels fell off for NC State. NC State didn’t perform badly at all in the floor exercise, with Negrete and Shepard earning 9.850s and the team scoring a combined 48.350 in the event. However, UNC’s excellent 49.125 on the beam meant the Tar Heels nearly scored a full point higher than the Wolfpack in the third rotation and single-handedly gave the Heels their first lead of the meet.
The Pack tried its best to grab the lead back with some really good beam routines of its own. Negrete’s 9.850 and senior Nicole Webb’s 9.800 made things interesting in the latter stages of the meet, contributing to a 48.875 on the beam and coming close to eclipsing UNC’s score in the event. But with UNC’s 48.850 on the floor, the Heels not only bested NC State’s floor exercise score in the third rotation, but they shrunk any impact the Pack’s performance on the beam would have on the final outcome.
NC State will come back onto the mats in a tri-meet against Oklahoma and George Washington. The meet is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19 and will take place at Reynolds Coliseum.
