---

---

AZUSA, Calif. - A successful inaugural season for the Gannon acrobatics and tumbling team came to an end Friday night with a 283.255-263.3 loss at the hands of No. 2 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) during the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) national quarterfinals in front of 1,314 fans.

No. 7 Gannon trailed 38.15-33.9 after the opening compulsory event. The acro event was an extremely competitive one with Azusa Pacific winning the five-element heat by .05 point and both teams recording 9.7 scores during the six-element heat. A 9.7-9.2 victory in the seven-element heat gave the Cougars a 29.15-28.6 acro win, pushing their overall lead to 67.3-62.5.

The first half concluded with the closest event of the night. Gannon produced pyramid scores of 9.85 during the flip heat, 9.8 in the twist heat and 9.75 during the release heat. But Azusa Pacific countered with scores of 9.95, 9.9 and 9.9 to secure a 29.75-29.0 victory. As a result, the Cougars went to halftime with a 97.05-91.9 advantage.

Azusa Pacific pulled away during the second half with a 29.3-27.55 victory in the toss event and 58.225-49.5 decision in the tumbling event. Gannon concluded the night with a 94.35 score during the team event.

Gannon finished its inaugural campaign with a 5-5 record after a winning regular-season mark. Azusa Pacific improved to 6-2. The Cougars will face No. 3 Quinnipiac in Saturday's national semifinals.