ERIE, Pa. – The No. 3-ranked Gannon University Acrobatics and Tumbling team continued to gather momentum late in the season and put together the second-highest score in program history, 280.660, to defeat No. 4 Quinnipiac (which scored 271.815) on Senior Night at the Highmark Events Center. The Knights improve to 8-1 in 2022 and have won four straight meets to conclude the NCATA regular season.
 
The Golden Knights have only scored higher than 280.660 on one occasion—at Baylor on March 3, 2020, when the squad scored 280.665. Additionally, Gannon's combined score in the tumbling event on the night (57.200) was also a program-best.
 
The Bobcats fall to 5-3 after dropping both duals to Gannon this spring and have also concluded the regular season. All that remains on the schedule for both squads is the NCATA National Championships, scheduled to begin April 28 at the University of Oregon.
 
Quinnipiac started Saturday's meet strong, holding slight advantages over Gannon after the compulsory (38.50 to 38.40) and acro (29.30 to 29.05) events. They increased the advantage even further after the pyramid event (29.40 to 29.30), with both teams also scoring an impressive 9.95-out-of-10 in the open third heat.
 
After halftime, however, it was all Gannon. The Bobcats' lead evaporated after the toss event, with the Knights' consistency giving them the edge 29.45 to 28.70 in the event and the overall lead 126.200 to 125.900. With the pressure on as both teams took to the tumbling event, Gannon delivered exceptional passes to maintain the advantage. Ali Price (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) and Caitlyn Crawford (Reston, Va./South Lakes) kicked things off with a 9.700 in the duo pass, and Price would later clutch out a 9.900 in heat five (the six-element pass.) Gannon's trio pass of Michaelah Lanza (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North), Annie Colantonio (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin), and Ashley Fallgren (Beaverton, Ore./Hillsboro) bested the Bobcats 8.850-8.350, and the story was the same with the quad pass (Sammy Gouge (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek), Courtney Solensky (Columbia, Conn./E.O. Smith), Bethany Schirz (Reno, Nev./Edward C. Reed), and Kat Rodriguez (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall)), who earned 9.050 to Quinnipiac's 8.800.
 
The hits kept coming, with Lanza and Crawford both delivering a score of 9.850 in the aerial pass and open pass, respectively, as Gannon opened up a huge lead (183.400 to 178.875) after all the tumbling was said and done.
 
The Knights added a 97.260 in the team event to bring home the overall win.
 
Additionally, seven senior student-athletes from the team were honored during the meet for their exceptional commitment to the program:
 
Morgan Applegate (Olathe, Kan./Olathe North)
Lauren Arroyo (West Covina, Calif./Mater Dei)
Sammy Gouge (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek)
Sydney Hess (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan)
Abbie Hoffman (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc)
Caitlyn McLaughlin (West Seneca, N.Y./Orchard Park)
Suzy Whiteman (Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional)
 
Next up: the announcement of the 2022 NCATA National Championship bracket, which takes place this coming Monday, April 11.