WACO, Texas – The Gannon acrobatics and tumbling team proved on Saturday that it can compete with the very best in the sport.

The No. 4-ranked Golden Knights stayed close to No. 1 Baylor all evening before the Bears clinched their 33rd consecutive victory during the Team event while claiming a 278.715-275.555 win over the Golden Knights in front of 1,617 fans at the Ferrell Center. It was Senior Night for Baylor.

The Golden Knights' record slipped to 6-1 with the loss to No. 1 Baylor, which improved to 6-0.

Coach Brandy Duren's Gannon team is near the end of a six-meet run against teams that were ranked in the Top-10 of the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Preseason Poll. The Knights earlier defeated No. 6 Frostburg State, No. 10 Belmont Abbey, No. 5 Azusa Pacific, and No. 7 Fairmont State.

Baylor is coached by NCATA legend Felecia Mulkey, who has led her team to national championships in each of the 12 seasons that NCATA has held a national meet. She coached Oregon to the first four NCATA national titles before moving to Baylor and winning the next eight.

Mulkey coached Duren at Oregon from 2012-14 and affectionately called the Gannon coach "one of my former babies."

 
By the numbers:

Gannon stayed within striking distance of Baylor on the scoreboard the entire meet as the Bears led just 96.05-95.90 at halftime.

Baylor opened the meet by edging Gannon in the Compulsory event 38.35-37.80. Gannon tied Baylor with a 9.85 in the Toss heat and recorded a 9.75 in the Compulsory Pyramid.
The Bears also led the Knights by a small margin in the Acro event, 38.35-37.80. GU turned in strong scores in the 7 Element (9.80) and 5 Element (9.70).

In the final event of the first half, the Pyramid event, Gannon was impressive, outscoring Baylor 29.50-28.40. The Knights had a superb score of 9.95 in the Open Pyramid and had a 9.80 in the Synchronized.

Baylor opened the second half by topping Gannon 29.00-28.55 in GU's traditionally strong event, the Toss. Gannon was the event national champion last year in the Synchronized Toss and Open Toss.

Gannon matched Baylor with a 9.70 in the 450 Salto, but Baylor outscored Gannon in both the Synchronized and Open.

Baylor boosted its lead with a 57.025-55.275 win in the Tumbling Event, despite strong scores from Ali Price (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) (9.800), Kat Rodriguez (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall) (9.500), and Ty Upton (South Amboy, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas) (9.475) in the solo passes.

Baylor clinched the 3-point victory with an outstanding score of 96.64 total in the meet-ending Team Event. Gannon had an outstanding score of 95.83 but could not overcome Baylor's lead.
 

Respect from BU coach:

Gannon's performance will only give the Golden Knights even more respect on the national level.

In Baylor's meet preview, Mulkey said, "No, Gannon is better than Oregon, Gannon is better than Quinnipiac. They should, in my opinion, be ranked No. 2 right now. In my preseason poll, I ranked them 2. They didn't graduate any seniors; they're really good. They have a great toss event, where that is our weakness.

"Gannon is good; this will be a really big meet. I think people are overlooking it because of the name recognition."

 
What's ahead:

Gannon will have three weeks off before closing the regular season against rival Quinnipiac on April 6 in Hamden, Conn. Quinnipiac, which is ranked No. 3, defeated Gannon in the national quarterfinals in 2023.

 
Gannon's lineup from Saturday:

2 Ali Price (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge), junior
3 Charisma Felix (Las Vegas, Nev./College of So. Nevada High School West), junior
5 Ty Upton (South Amboy, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas), junior
6 Nicole Pavia, junior
7 Kat Rodriguez (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall), senior
8 Julienne Templeman, sophomore
12 Peyton Oliver (Vallejo, Calif./Jesse M. Bethel), sophomore
13 Bethany Schirz (Reno, Nev./Edward C. Reed), graduate
14 Annie Colantonio (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin), senior
15 Michaelah Lanza (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North), graduate
16 Ashley Fallgren (Beaverton, Ore./Hillsboro), graduate
17 Layna Bergeron (Johnston, R.I./La Salle Academy), sophomore
18 Tori Soper (Sheffield Lake, Ohio/Ohio Connections Academy), sophomore
21 Courtney Solensky (Columbia, Conn./E.O. Smith), senior
22 Reagan McMahon (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic), junior
23 Alexandria DeAngelis (Audubon, N.J./Camden Catholic High School), freshman
24 Marissa Burge (Fairview, Pa./Fairview), sophomore
32 Lillie Fritz (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler), junior
34 Kathryn Rhine (Damascus, Ore./Clackamas), senior
35 Madison Rhine (Damascus, Ore./Clackamas), senior
37 Lauren Rupert (Central Square, N.Y./Paul V. Moore), junior
38 Montana Muller (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua), senior
39 Megan Revell (Richland, Wash./Richland High), junior
42 Mikayla Kis, sophomore
43 Ariana Fitzpatrick (Burlington, N.J./Northern Burlington County Regional H.S.), freshman
44 Alexis Tosado (Sparks, Nev./Edward C. Reed), graduate
45 Brianna Arre, senior
47 Morgan Gilbert (Black River, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Central), graduate