Pitt
Temple, West Chester, Ursinus
Panthers Travel to Philadelphia for Quad-Meet
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Pitt Meet Notes
PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh women's gymnastics team will travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple, West Chester and Ursinus in the Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational.
The meet will be Pitt's second road contest on the young season. Things are set to get underway at 1:00 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
A live stream of the event will be available here. Fans can also follow the Pitt women's gymnastics team on Twitter for live updates.
THE MEET
The University of Pittsburgh women's gymnastics team will hit the road for its fifth meet of the season, traveling to Philadelphia for a quad-meet with Temple, West Chester and Ursinus. The Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational will be Pitt's first trip to Temple since 1991.
The Panthers (2-3, 0-2 EAGL) are looking to bounce back after dropping a close contest to EAGL rival North Carolina, in which they posted a team score of 194.450.
In the meet against North Carolina, four Panthers came out on top in their individual events. Tracey Pearson was the highest scorer on the vault and floor with marks of 9.875 and 9.900, respectively. Taylor Laymon won the uneven bars with a score of 9.825, and Lucy Brett tied for first on the balance beam with a score of 9.900.
SCOUTING TEMPLE
The Owls (4-6) host the invitational after placing fourth in their last match against No. 25 West Virginia, Towson and No. 7 Denver. In that outing, Temple set a new program record with a total score of 193.625, including a 48.85 on vault.
In their last meet, the Owls' vault lineup nearly matched their program record, which was set just two weeks prior. Sophomore Aya Mahgoub led the team with her second 9.825 of the season, while her teammates all recorded scores above 9.600.
SCOUTING WEST CHESTER
The Golden Rams (4-3) head into the invitational fresh off of their defeat of the University of Pennsylvania. West Chester set a new team record on the floor and won every team event, which led to an overall score of 193.400.
In the meet against Penn, West Chester was led in large part by senior Majesta Valentine, who broke her own school record on the flood exercise with a score of 9.925 and contributed to the team score of 49.025. Valentine also won the balance beam and tied for first on the vault, paving the way for a Golden Rams Victory.
SCOUTING URSINUS
The Grizzly Bears (0-5) are looking to recover after coming in fourth in a match with Rutgers, Michigan State and Cornell. Despite coming in fourth, Ursinus posted its best team score since the 2015 NCGA East Championship. Ursinus has previously lost matchups with both Temple and West Chester.
In their last outing, all but one Bear earned a season or career-high on the floor, led by junior Alexandra Puryear, who was the team's first all-around performer and had an overall score of 38.175.
SERIES WITH TEMPLE
This will be the 28th all-time meeting between the Panthers and the Owls in a series dating back to the 1975 season. Pitt holds a 20-7-0 all-time series advantage over Temple and has won eight consecutive meetings dating back to 1996.
The two teams last met on Feb. 28, 2015 when Temple visited Fitzgerald Field House in a quad meet with West Virginia and North Carolina. In that meeting, the Panthers knocked off the Owls by a score of 194.55-193.100.
Temple's last victory over Pitt came in the 1995 season when they earned a 183.125-180.625 decision at a neutral site.
SERIES WITH WEST CHESTER
This will be the third meeting between the Panthers and Golden Rams in a series dating back to the 1995 season. Pitt holds a 2-0-0 all-time series advantage over West Chester.
Both meetings have come at neutral sites, as Pitt earned a 189.600-150.750 win on Feb. 28, 1997 and a 181.825-165.900 decision on Jan. 21, 1995.
SERIES WITH URSINUS
This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the Panthers and the Bears in a series dating back to the 1997 season. Pitt holds a 5-0-0 all-time series advantage over Ursinus.
The last meeting between the two squads came at the Fitzgerald Field House on Feb. 16, 2002 as Pitt claimed a 193.950-182.750 victory. Pitt has earned three wins over the Bears at home and two victories at neutral locations.
PITT GYMNASTICS IN THE RANKINGS
The Panthers have been stellar on floor to kick off the season and currently rank 27th in the nation, tied with Kent State, with an average of 48.825 on the apparatus. In the region, the Panthers are third, behind just Michigan and Penn. The mark is good for third in the EAGL.
Senior Tracey Pearson ranks eighth in the region in the all-around, averaging a score of 38.738. The mark ranks eighth in the EAGL as well. Pearson is also ranked amongst the top on vault, averaging a 9.831 in the region, good for second in the conference. On floor, the Baltimore native is eighth in the region and fifth in the conference with an average of 9.831.
In addition to the regional rankings of Pearson, Meagan Oscar ranks 14th on vault (9.742), Lucy Brett is tied for ninth on bars (9.750) and Hallie Peele is tied for 15th on bars (9.725).
BRETT COPS EAGL SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Lucy Brett was named the EAGL Specialist of the week after a stunning performance on the balance beam against North Carolina.
Brett now ranks eighth all-time in Pitt history with a near-perfect beam routine that earned her a 9.900, a career-high. The performance on the beam was not her only highlight, as she earned another career high on the uneven bars, taking second place with a score of 9.800.
The award was the third individual EAGL honor of the season for the Panthers as Alecia Petrikis and Rachel Dugan have each received Rookie of the week honors.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will continue their road trip, traveling to Cary, N.C., for a quad-meet with host NC State, as well as William & Mary and North Carolina. Pitt will follow that up with a five-team meet in the nation's capital, as the Panthers will square off with George Washington, Iowa, William & Mary and Maryland.
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