ERIE, Pa. - No. 3 Quinnipiac won the first five events and moved into the national semifinals with a 269.875-263.405 victory against No. 6 Fairmont State Thursday afternoon in the opening meet of the 2018 National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championships hosted by Gannon University and the Erie Sports Commission at the Hammermill Center.
Quinnipiac opened a 37.725-37.275 lead after the compulsory event, before extending its lead with a 28.775-27.375 advantage in the acro event and 28.725-28.250 difference in the pyramid event. The first-half performance pushed the Bobcats into halftime with a 95.23-92.90 lead.
A victory in the open heat of the toss event wasn't enough as Fairmont State dropped a tight 27.75-27.00 race during opening event of the second half. Quinnipiac followed with a dominating 56.200-51.925 edge in the tumbling event, before Fairmont State rallied with a 91.58-90.70 win during the team event. However, the Bobcats had built a large enough lead to hold on for the overall victory.
Quinnipiac moves into the Friday's national semifinals against the No. 2 Azusa Pacific-No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific winner. That match-up will be the first of semifinal night and is scheduled for 5 p.m. A live video webcast will be available at
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/gannon.
