West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University acrobatics & tumbling team gets their 2024 home slate underway on Friday, February 16, when they host Notre Dame and West Virginia State as they continue to face Mountain East Conference opponents early in the season. After a narrow defeat in the season opener, the Hilltoppers look to break into the win column as they are set for a 6 p.m. start time inside the ASRC.

MEET DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• Start Time: 6 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Friday's meet with an 0-1 (0-1 MEC) record following a season-opening loss at Glenville State (265.915-264.740) on Saturday, February 3.
• In the first meet of the year WLU posted event scores of 37.550 in compulsory, 28.000 in acro, 28.350 in pyramid, 27.000 in toss, 51.400 in tumbling, 92.440 in the team event, and posted a 264.740 overall meet score.
• Against the Pioneers the Hilltoppers won two of the six events and scored a 9.0 or higher in ten heats.
• The Hilltoppers broke school records in heat 1 of the toss, the 450 Salto, with a score of 9.250, and tied the heat 2 program record in the synchronized toss with a score of 8.800. With a score of 92.440 the Black & Gold also rewrote the record books in the team event.
• Kayla Gandy played a key role in the Hilltoppers' success two weeks ago as she was a top for both of the school record toss heats and in the team event she tops one acro, one pyramid, two tosses, does one standing pass, and two running passes. Kallie Moses was the other athlete on top for WLU in the heat two synchronized toss that broke the record.
• The Hilltoppers were tied for third with Glenville State in the MEC Preseason Acrobatics & Tumbling Coaches' Poll, accumulating 15 points in the vote.
• The Black & Gold return a trio of First Team All-MEC selections in Gandy, Gillian Hartz, and Abbey Swinderman, while also returning Second Team All-MEC selection Abbey Horvath.
• Kelsey Kyle enters her fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 14-17 during her time with the Hilltoppers.

NOTRE DAME STORYLINES

• Notre Dame enters Friday's meet with an 0-1 (0-1 MEC) record following a season-opening loss at home to No. 12 Frostburg State (259-545-233.685) on Saturday, February 10.
• In the first meet of the year NDC posted event scores of 31.950 in compulsory, 21.900 in acro, 24.850 in pyramid, 23.550 in toss, 46.625 in tumbling, 84.810 in the team event, and posted a 233.685 overall meet score.
• In the program's first season, Notre Dame posted a 1-5 (1-4 MEC) mark in 2023 and finished fifth in the league standings, just missing the conference tournament. With a Second Team All-MEC selection in her freshman campaign, Katlyn Smith, became the first-ever all-conference selection for NDC and she returns for her sophomore season in 2024.
• The Falcons were picked fifth in the MEC Preseason Acrobatics & Tumbling Coaches' Poll, accumulating nine points in the vote.
• Nikki Pizzi is in her second season as the head coach at Notre Dame with a career record of 1-6 during her time with the Falcons.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty won the first-ever meeting between the programs with a score of 260.770-207-795 on March 16, 2023, in South Euclid, Ohio.
• The Hilltoppers broke two school-records in the match-up with a score of 9.85 in the pyramid heat of the compulsory events and the 6-element heat of the tumbling event with a score of 9.25.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE STORYLINES

• West Virginia State became the 39^th member of the NCATA when they announced the addition of acrobatics & tumbling on January 27, 2022. Friday night will be the Yellow Jackets' first-ever meet in program history.
• WVSU was picked sixth in the MEC Preseason Acrobatics & Tumbling Coaches' Poll, accumulating five points in the vote.
• Kaitlyn Miller was named the first head coach in program history on April 21, 2022, joining the Yellow Jackets after being an assistant coach at Coker. She participated in acrobatics & tumbling as a student-athlete at Gannon and was a part of two top-5 national teams in 2018 and 2019.

SERIES HISTORY

• Friday will be the first-ever meeting between West Liberty and West Virginia State in acrobatics & tumbling.