Gaffney, S.C. – The West Liberty University acrobatics & tumbling team closed out their trip south for spring break against No. 7 Limestone and fell by a score of 274.020-263.440 on Saturday afternoon inside the Timken Center. Despite only winning one event on the day, the Hilltoppers posted a pair of school records as they recorded a new benchmark in the compulsory pyramid heat and the team event. WLU also earned a total of ten scores of 9.0 or better during the competition.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 263.440, No. 7 Limestone 274.020
Team Records: West Liberty 3-4 (2-2 MEC), No. 7 Limestone 7-0 (4-0 Conference Carolinas)
Attendance: 255
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Limestone secured a win in the opening event of the afternoon by a score of 38.150-34.500 in compulsory. West Liberty posted three scores of 9.0 or better with marks of 9.150 in the acro heat, 9.950 in the pyramid heat, 9.400 in the toss heat, and 6.000 in the tumbling heat. Highlighting the event was a school record in the pyramid heat for WLU as Avery Ray and Kayla Gandy were tops and Katelyn Emborsky and Abbey Swinderman were mids.
• The Saints narrowly edged the Hilltoppers in the acro heat by a score of 28.800-28.350. All three of the heat scores for WLU were above a 9.0 as they posted a 9.450 in the 5-element heat, a 9.20 in the 6-element heat, and a 9.700 in the 7-element heat. Highlighting the event in the 7-element was Gandy as a top with Abbey Horvath, Chloe Palmer, and Swinderman as bases. Peyton Fry was the counter in the 7-element heat.
• The lone event win of the day for West Liberty was pyramid, as they trimmed down the halftime margin to 2.800 points (95.050-92.250) as they won the event by a score of 29.400-28.100. All three of the Hilltoppers' scores were a 9.70 or better as they recorded scores of 9.700 in the inversion heat, a 9.750 in the synchronized heat, and a 9.950 in the open heat. Recording a season-best score in the open heat for the Hilltoppers were Gandy as the top and Horvath as a mid while Palmer and Fry were bases. Also in the event was Gillian Hartz as the brace and Gabby Guldin as the tosser while Kylinn Hartman, Olivia Kniola, and Liz Poling were catchers.
• Limestone got back into the win column in the toss event with a 28.250-25.600 event victory. WLU recorded scores of 8.500 in the 450 salto, 8.200 in the synchronized heat, and 8.900 in the open heat. Helping lead the way for the Black & Gold in the open heat was Ray as the top with Emborsky and Audrey Prater as bases. Also in the event was Savannah Turner-Davis positioned in the front while Paige Lawrence was in the back.
• The Saints extended their lead with a 53.450-51.250 win in the tumbling event. West Liberty earned a one score of 9.0 or better in the event as they posted scores of 8.150 in the duo pass, 7.850 in the trio pass, 8.150 in the quad pass, 9.450 in the aerial pass, 8.975 in the 6-element pass, and 8.675 in the open pass. Highlighting the event was Gandy who tied a season-best mark in the aerial pass.
• For the second consecutive meet and the third time this season the Hilltoppers recorded a school record score in the team event, posting a 94.340, however it wasn't enough to win the event as the Saints earned a 97.270.

UP NEXT
West Liberty returns to the hilltop as they close a stretch of five consecutive ranked opponents and round out Mountain East Conference action as they host No. 6 Frostburg State. The Hilltoppers and Bobcats are slated for a 6 p.m. start time on Thursday, March 14, inside the ASRC.