The last time San Jose State and Stanford faced each other, it was inevitable that the Cardinal’s shorthanded performance would lead to their first loss of the season. Now, with one full team performance under its belt, Stanford looks to strengthen its rotations and achieve consistency in its final road meet of the regular season.
Stanford’s trip to Seattle for a tri-meet against Washington and No. 18 Boise State highlighted what the team needs to do to emerge victorious against the Spartans.
Stanford’s two all-arounders sophomore Chloe Widner and senior Kyla Bryant are crucial in stepping up during huge moments of the meet and performing their best routines.
Widner was able to claim two individual event titles on the vault and balance beam en route to an all-around title in Seattle. Despite falling off the balance beam, Bryant earned the Cardinal’s first 9.900 on the floor exercise this season.
The Cardinal must capitalize on its floor exercise rotation. Five Cardinal gymnasts were able to earn scores above 9.700 to propel the sqaud to its first team score over 49.000 on an event this season. The Spartans have yet to crack 49.000 on the floor exercise this year.
As for the vault, Stanford and San Jose State are essentially evenly matched. The team score average for the vault rotations from both teams hovers just above 48.300 this season. Whichever team can block better off the vaulting table and find the landings on Wednesday will be able to earn itself an advantage in the meet.
Both teams have also been able to raise their level on the uneven bars. The Spartans are coming off a six-tenth increase on this rotation with a 48.775 in their loss to Air Force. This event total for the Spartans is the highest score out of all the other event totals this season.
The Cardinal has been consistent on the uneven bars with each Cardinal scoring between 9.650 and 9.775 in Seattle. Stanford will look for a solid performance from uneven bars specialist senior Grace Garcia who has been able to crack a 9.900 on the apparatus in her career.
One area the Cardinal would like to improve upon is the balance beam. Junior Morgan Hoang had the lead-off position for this rotation in Seattle, receiving a solid 9.650. Widner maintained the momentum to earn the highest score of the meet with a 9.850.
After two steady performances from Hoang and Widner, the remaining three Cardinal on this rotation — Bryant, fellow senior Rachel Flam and true freshman Sandra Jessen — were not able to stay on the beam, leading to an event total of 46.000.
If at least five Cardinal can stay on the beam on Wednesday, the team will likely be able to earn its first victory of the season, assuming the other apparatuses go according to plan.
Stanford will head to the Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose to face the Spartans Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT.