Acrobatics & Tumbling | 2/9/2019 6:35:00 PM

Meet Results
    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University acrobatics and tumbling squad posted a program-record total here Saturday afternoon in dropping its Mountain East Conference opener to No. 6-ranked Fairmont State at the ASRC.
    Head coach Treasure Fields said she was pleased with the progress she saw from her second-year program as they battled the nationally-ranked Falcons throughout before coming away on the short end of a 270.165-241.430 tally.
    "We were able to battle through a few bumps and bruises along the way but I thought our execution was much better today and it showed on the scoreboard," Fields said. "We clearly demonstrated improvement in several of our skills from where we were a week ago."
    West Liberty's total team score of 241.430 points easily eclipsed the previous program record of 230.660 points, which came in a late-season loss at Gannon (Pa.) last spring. That's a pretty significant jump in a fast-growing sport where scores are carried out to the thousandth of a point.
    Fields noted that it was also a marked improvement over last week's total of 227.695 points in the season-opening match against four-time defending national champion Baylor.
    "It's really exciting to put up the highest point total in our brief program history," Fields said. "That's a credit to the hard work and dedication of the young women we have in this program. I am so happy with this team's progress. We are definitely headed in the right direction."
    West Liberty got off to a strong start Saturday with a solid performance in the opening Compulsory event. Highlighted by a 9.05 in the Pyramid heat and a program-record 9.65 in the Toss head, WLU trailed the veteran Fairmont State squad by less than four points heading into the Acro event.
    Although the Hilltoppers scored well in the Pyramid event, posting a 9.15 in the Inversion heat and a 9.30 in the Open heat, the Falcons scored 29.60 of a possible 30 points in the three heats – highlighted by a perfect 10.0 in the Open heat – to take a 95.85-86.50 lead into halftime.
    Fairmont was able to create a bit more separation in the Toss and Tumbling events when the teams returned to the mat but the Hilltoppers finished on a high note with a program-record score of 83.28 in the Team event finale.
    "There were some things we need to clean up from today's meet but they're all very correctable," Fields said. "We are really looking forward to building on this performance when we get back on the mat for next weekend's triangular."
    The WLU Acrobatics and Tumbling team will host its third straight home meet on Feb. 17 when Davis & Elkins and Concordia (Wis.) come to town for a triangular. The meet is set for a 2 p.m. start at the ASRC.