ERIE, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Gannon Acrobatics & Tumbling team will open the 2022 season on Saturday afternoon with a top 10 matchup against fourth-ranked Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. The Knights will also compete against East Stroudsburg in the NCATA tri-meet.
Quinnipiac is the first of five top 10 teams that Gannon will compete against this season. The Knights will compete against a total of six nationally-ranked teams this season, including No. 2 Azusa Pacific, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Quinnipiac, No. 5 Hawaii Pacific, No. 8 Fairmont State and No. 11 West Liberty.
Gannon returns to the mat after a 6-0 campaign in 2021, which was highlighted by a home win over No. 10 Limestone. The Knights checked in at No. 5 in the final set of NCATA Championship Rankings a season ago but did not receive a bid to the NCATA National Championships because the field was cut to four due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Gannon last competed against Quinnipiac back on March 30, 2019 at the Hammermill Center. The Bobcats were victorious in the senior day meet by a 276.590-270.950 final score. Quinnipiac is 7-0 all-time against Gannon in a series that began back in 2014. East Stroudsburg will be competing for the first time in program history on Saturday afternoon. East Stroudsburg added its Acrobatics & Tumbling program on March 11, 2019 as the 29
th program nationwide.
Despite the departure of eight seniors a season ago, Gannon returns 31 student-athletes in 2022, including 14 juniors and five seniors. The seniors include
Suzy Whiteman (Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional),
Sydney Hess (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan),
Abbie Hoffman (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc),
Caitlyn McLaughlin (West Seneca, N.Y./Orchard Park) and
Lauren Arroyo (West Covina, Calif./Mater Dei).
In addition to the returners, a trio of true freshman will be making their collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling debut for the Knights on Saturday, including top and tumbler
Charisma Felix (Las Vegas, Nev./College of So. Nevada High School West), top and tumbler
Nicole Pavia (Oxford, Conn./Oxford High) and base, back and tumbler
Megan Revell (Richland, Wash./Richland High).
Gannon will open the season with a 292.03 start value on Saturday afternoon, including six heats with a maximum start value of 10.0.
Following Saturday's tri-meet, Gannon will return home on Friday, Feb. 18 to host No. 8 Fairmont State at the Hammermill Center. Start time is set for 7 p.m.
