ERIE, Pa. – The No. 11-ranked West Liberty acrobatics and tumbling team came out on the short end of a 269.17-245.30 score against No. 6-ranked Gannon here Wednesday night in a battle of nationally-ranked squads at the Highmark Events Center.
    Coach Kelsey Kyle's Hilltoppers (4-2) bounced back from a loss in the opening Compulsory event to pull out a win in the Acro event. Three heat scores of 9.00 or better capped by a solid 9.55 in the 7-element heat gave WLU a 27.90 event total to 27.85 for the Golden Knights (6-1).
    That turned out to be one of just a handful of highlights for the Black and Gold as Gannon bounced back with a 29.20-25.70 victory in the Pyramid event to take a 93.35-88.05 halftime lead.
    The Golden Knights, who came into Wednesday's match with wins against No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Quinnipiac, No. 5 Hawaii Pacific and No. 8 Fairmont State used their depth and experience in the Toss and Tumbling events to keep building on their lead throughout the second half.
    Gannon posted a 28.25-25.80 win in the Toss event and followed that up with a 53.70-47.55 victory in the Tumbling event to open up a virtually-insurmountable 175.30-161.40 margin heading into the Team event.
    The Golden Knights sent the home fans home with a smile on their faces, closing out their sixth win of the year with a 93.870 score in the Team event to 83.90 for the Hilltoppers.
    West Liberty acro will be back in action on March 27 when they travel to Fairmont to take on defending MEC champion Fairmont State. Both squads are unbeaten in conference play.