Feb. 9, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. --In a battle of two red-hot women's gymnastics programs No. 5 Stanford (7-3) held off No. 15 Arizona State (3-3) 197.050-196.725 in front of 505 fans at Burnham Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., Friday.
It was a hard-fought loss for ASU, which posted team season-highs in every event except the floor, en route to its season-best team total. Although they went into the meet with only two scores of 9.9 or better over the course of four meets, the Sun Devils picked up double that against the Cardinal.
Contributing some of those scores were sophomore Margaret Wojciak and junior Laura Moon. Having already received scores of 9.825 on the uneven bars from senior Kelly Cowley and freshman Maggie Germaine, Wojciak and Moon closed out the event with a 9.9 and 9.925, respectively, giving ASU a team total of 49.225 on the apparatus, while Stanford competed to a 48.9 on vault.
In the second rotation, ASU was paced on vault by Germaine's 9.85 and by 9.825s from Cowley and freshman Amber Giorgianni. But Stanford - ranked third in the nation in the event going into the night - made a comeback on bars. Becky Meldrum posted a 9.9 and Jen Exaltacion notched a 9.95 to give the Cardinal a 49.425 in the event and a 0.15 lead at the midway point.
ASU then moved to the floor exercise where Cowley continued her magnificent evening with a 9.9, closing the door after a 9.825 from sophomore Cassidy Vreeke, a 9.85 from senior Kristin Fanning and a 9.875 from Germaine. ASU's team total of 49.3 was only .025 behind its season-best on floor.
In the meantime, Stanford was more than comfortable on the balance beam, as Lise Leveille and Lindsay Wing demonstrated why the Cardinal are ranked second in the nation on the apparatus with scores of 9.95, en route to a team total of 49.4.
Down 147.725-147.475 heading into the last rotation, ASU never gave up. On beam, junior Rhonda Robinette atoned for a fall on bars with a 9.925. Moon added a 9.875, sophomore Ashley Ellsberry a 9.85, but it was just not enough.
As they had done on beam, Leveille and Wing again led the Cardinal charge, this time with respective totals of 9.9 and 9.925 as Stanford snipped ASU's string of upset wins.
To put the Sun Devils' performance in perspective, the last time ASU scored better than 196.725, was its second-place 196.85 score at the NCAA Championships in 1997. The Sun Devils' schedule won't be any easier next week as they head north to meet No. 3 Utah in Salt Lake City, Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 p.m. (MST).
Complete PDF results were NOT provided by the host university.
Stanford 197.050, ASU 196.725
Vault - Stanford 48.9, ASU 48.95
Bars - Stanford 49.425, ASU 49.225
Beam - Stanford 49.4, ASU 49.25
Floor -- Stanford 49.325, ASU 49.3
Individual Top-Three/Other Sun Devil Scores
Vault -
1. Wing (Stanford) 9.9, 2. Fluhrer (Stanford) 9.875, 3. Germaine (ASU) 9.85
Cowley 9.825, Giorgianni 9.825, Moon 9.75, Vreeke 9.7, Stewart 9.35
Bars -
1. Exaltacion (Stanford) 9.95, 2. Moon (ASU) 9.925, 3t. Meldrum (Stanford) 9.9, 3t. Wojciak (ASU) 9.9
Cowley 9.825, Germaine 9.825, Skinner 9.75, Robinette 9.1
Beam -
1. Wing (Stanford) 9.975, 2t. Leveille (Stanford) 9.925, 2t. Robinette (ASU) 9.925
Moon 9.85, Ellsberry 9.85, Vreeke 9.825, Germaine 9.775, Giorgianni 8.65
Floor -
1. Wing (Stanford) 9.925, 2t. Leveille (Stanford) 9.9, 2t. Cowley (ASU) 9.9
Germaine 9.875, Ellsberry 9.85, Fanning 9.85, Vreeke 9.825, Wojciak 9.75
All-Around -
1. Wing (Stanford) 39.675, 2. Levcille (Stanford) 39.425, 3. Germaine (ASU) 39.325