No. 1 Baylor A&T Thumps No. 4 Quinnipiac in Ferrell

WACO, Texas – In the second battle of the unbeatens in one week, No. 1 Baylor acrobatics & tumbling won by 13.725-points over No. 4 Quinnipiac on Saturday evening in the Ferrell Center, 280.495-266.770.

The Bears (6-0) dropped just two heats in the win over the Bobcats (3-1), while earning two 10.0 scores.

The last time a BU team had back-to-back meets with multiple 10.0 scores in each was in 2021. Baylor had three 10.0s at East Texas Baptist on April 1 and then had two against Oregon on April 10. This time around, the Bears earned two against Frostburg State on March 22 and two against Quinnipiac.

THE RUNDOWN

Starting off the meet, Baylor had a Compulsory score of 38.10 after a 9.65 in Acro, 9.75 in Pyramid, 9.95 in Toss and an 8.75 in Tumbling. Quinnipiac scored a 36.65, their best score coming in Toss at 9.65.

Moving into the optional portion of the meet, Baylor had a score of 9.95 in Heat 1, 9.75 in Heat 2 and 9.90 in Heat 3 of Acro to total 29.60 for the event. The Bobcats had a 9.60, 8.80 and 9.80, respectively, for a total of 28.20. Going into the Pyramid event, BU was up 67.70 to 64.85.

In the Pyramid event, the Bears earned a perfect 10 in Heat 1, the inversion heat. It was the fourth time this season that the “Tower of Terror” was awarded the perfect score. In heat two, BU earned a 9.85 and a 9.95 in heat three. With the event scoring a 29.80, the running total was updated to 97.50 for Baylor. Quinnipiac totaled 29.40 for the event and had a score of 94.25 going into halftime, the Bears up 3.25-points.

In the Toss Event, Baylor had scores of 9.40, 9.25 and 9.5, respectively, to total 28.15 for the event. It was junior Ally Joswick’s first time competing in Toss event for her career. The Bobcats scored a 9.00, 9.65 and 9.30, respectively, to total 27.65 and won Heat 2. Going into the fifth event, Tumbling, the Bears were up 125.65 to QU’s 121.90.

In the Tumbling Event, Heat 1 (Duo) with junior Kristen McCain and freshman Aliyah “Chibi” Thomas scored a 9.35. In the Trio Heat (Heat 2), Kamryn Kitchens, Aliyah Kaloostian and Rakel Jeffries scored a 9.40. The Quad Pass (Heat 3) had Katie Shiffer, Gianna Cameron, Savanna Cecil and Emily Tobin score a 9.45. The Aerial pass from Kitchens earned a perfect 10, the first for the program in Tumbling since 2020 and the first in the heat since 2017 against Fairmont State. McCain in the 6 Element pass (Heat 5) had a 9.90 and Cecil in the Open pass (Heat 6) earned a 9.925. The Bears’ total came to 58.025 for the event, a season-high, while the Bobcats scored a 56.90. Going into the nights final event, BU was up 183.675 to 178.800 from Quinnipiac.

In the Team event, Baylor earned a score of 96.82 while QU earned a 87.97, bringing the meet score to a total of 280.495 to 266.770, BU taking the win.

HIGHLIGHTS

• BU won back-to-back meets against a team with Bobcats as their mascot
• The Bears now own four final scores of 280 or higher this season, the only team to have at least one
• Baylor extends its win streak to 22 meets in a row, dating back to 2021
• The Bears dropped just two heats to the Bobcats
• BU outscored Quinnipiac by 13.725-points overall
• Pyramid Heat 1, the inversion heat, earned its fourth perfect 10 of the season
• Kamryn Kitchens earned a perfect 10 in the Aerial Tumbling Pass, the first for Baylor since 2017

STAT OF THE MEET

Baylor earned two perfect 10s in back-to-back meets

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Felecia “Fee” Mulkey

“This was a week. That was fun! And right at two hours. I’m really proud of the team. We purposefully scheduled it this way when we were able to add that extra meet, and it would’ve been a lot closer with Quinnipiac had we made that showing, but I’m so proud of the adjustments they made. We even made some personnel changes. They stepped up to the plate and executed. They did exactly what they needed to do today. I’m so proud of them, all of them.”

“Kam Kitchens has some really spectacular passes. Very rarely does she make huge mistakes in passes, and when she doesn’t get a 10, I understand because you can always see something. Today, we have three of the best officials in the business – and they bring those in when you have really good teams competing against each other – for them to give her a 10 was big for me because I have a lot of respect for those women. A 10’s a 10, but that was a true 10 today. I’m so proud of her, so deserving. You don’t get those all the time, especially in tumbling.”

NEXT UP

The Bears return to the mats on Saturday, April 1, when they face No. 5 Oregon at 5 p.m. in the Ferrell.

The first set of Championship rankings from the NCATA will be released on March 29.

To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.