Acrobatics & Tumbling | 2/11/2018 4:44:00 PM

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – West Liberty University acrobatics & tumbling head coach Treasure Fields saw plenty of bright spots in her team's program opener against West Virginia Wesleyan Sunday afternoon in the ASRC.
    The Bobcats (2-0) claimed a 247.78-138.20 victory on the scoreboard but the Hilltoppers' first-year head coach didn't see any losers on the mat as the Black and Gold introduced the university's newest sport to a large and appreciative crowd.
    "I'm really proud of my girls and the way they performed today," Fields said. "There are some technical things that held our scores down in terms of participation numbers and such so that's why the score seems so one-sided but I thought our girls competed hard and executed well.
    "I was so happy to see what a great turnout we had and the crowd was really into it. I'm so appreciative of the support we've received from the university and the university community and I know the girls are, as well. It was a great atmosphere."
    The Hilltoppers got off to a good start in Sunday's match, winning the Acro heat in the compulsory event that opened the match but Wesleyan came back with wins in the Pyramid, Toss and Tumbling heats to take a 30.25-27.65 lead into the Acro event.
    The Bobcats swept the three Acro heats to pad their lead to 57.60-47.25 heading into the final discipline of the first half, the Pyramid event. West Liberty kept things close throughout but the visitors were able to eke out close wins in the three Pyramid heats to claim an 84.40-72.25 lead at the half.
    "Outside of the coaches, today's event was new to everyone in the arena – including our student-athletes," Fields said. "We've been working toward this moment since August and it's good to get that first competition behind us. Now we know what to expect going forward."
    The Toss event opened the second half and it featured more tight competition. The Bobcats took narrow verdicts in the 450 Salto and Synchronized tosses. The Hilltoppers came away with an 8.40-8.20 win in the Open Toss heat but Wesleyan still took a slight nod in the event, 24.90-24.70.
    The Bobcats closed out the match by sweeping the six Tumbling heats and picked up 88.83 points in the closing Team event, which inflated the final margin as injuries prevented WLU from having enough competitors to compete in the Team event.
    "I'm proud of the way our girls represented themselves and the university and I hope they're proud of themselves," Fields said. "Our goal from Day One has been to work on getting a little bit better today than we were yesterday and then work on being a little bit better tomorrow than we are today.
    "We understand that we're a work in progress but I've been blessed with a good group of girls with a great work ethic who are fully committed to coming back stronger and better every time they hit the mat. We're going to take what we learned today and build from that for our next match."
    The West Liberty A&T squad makes its first road trip next weekend when the Hilltoppers head north to Adrian (Mich.) College for a noon (EST) dual match.