WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Gannon University acrobatics & tumbling team turned in one of its finest performances of the season Thursday in the NCATA Championship quarterfinals.
 
Despite that strong effort, the No. 5-seeded Golden Knights were edged by the No. 4 Quinnipiac 273.845-270.505 in the fourth quarterfinal at West Liberty University's Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex.

Gannon's team season ended with a 6-3 record, but coach Brandy Duren's squad will now aim for event finals on Sunday.
 
Quinnipiac (6-1) will advance to face No. 1 seed and seven-time defending national champion Baylor, the only team to beat the Bobcats this season.
 
Gannon can take some consolation in the fact that their score was the third highest in the national quarterfinals, trailing only Baylor (28.930) and Quinnipiac. The Golden Knights outscored all four of the teams on the other side of the bracket.
 

 
The meet came down to the team event, where Quinnipiac outscored Gannon 93.370-90.330.
 
Gannon won three of the first four events on Thursday. After The Golden Knights won 37.800-37.625 in the Compulsory Round, Quinnipiac won the acro 28.700-28.550. Gannon then won pyramid event 29.425-29.225 to take a narrow 95.775-95.550 halftime lead.
 
The Golden Knights remained in the lead by winning the toss 28.757-28.050.
 
However, Quinnipiac's strength in tumbling showed in the final two events – tumbling and team event. The Bobcats topped the Knights 56.875-55.825 in the tumbling to take a 180.475-180.175 advantage going into the team event.
 
Gannon was coming off a national runner-up finish in 2022.
 
The good news for the Golden Knights is that they won three event national championships last year – synchronized pyramid, synchronized toss, and open toss. They figure to be top contenders in those three events and possibly a couple other events on Sunday.

This was Gannon's competitive roster for Thursday's quarterfinals:

Lauren Arroyo (West Covina, Calif./Mater Dei)
Layna Bergeron (Johnston, R.I./La Salle Academy) 
Sophie Binsol (Waldorf, Md./Westlake)
Kylie Brown (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem)
Annie Colantonio (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin)
Charisma Felix (Las Vegas, Nev./College of So. Nevada High School West)
Lillie Fritz (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler) 
Morgan Gilbert (Black River, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Central)
Sammy Gouge (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) 
Sydney Hess (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan)
Mikayla Kis (Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) 
Michaelah Lanza (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North)
Montana Muller (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua)
Peyton Oliver (Vallejo, Calif./Jesse M. Bethel)
Maddie Olsen (Phoenix, Ariz./Chandler Prep)
Maria Ondrejko (Scenery Hill, Pa./Bishop Canevin) 
Nicole Pavia (Oxford, Conn./Oxford High)
Ali Price (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) 
Jema Reasoner (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville)
Kat Rodriguez (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall) 
Courtney Solensky (Columbia, Conn./E.O. Smith) 
Tori Soper (Sheffield Lake, Ohio/Ohio Connections Academy) 
Alexis Tosado (Sparks, Nev./Edward C. Reed)
Ty Upton (South Amboy, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas)
McKenna Wettstein (Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead) 
Suzy Whiteman (Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional) 
Emma Winters (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower High)
Addy Womeldorph (Parker, Texas/Allen)