ERIE, Pa. – Tuesday was a memorable night all around for the Gannon acrobatics and tumbling team.

It was the home opener, it was Senior Night, and the Golden Knights faced another Top 10 team.

Coach Brandy Duren's team made the most of the moment by defeating No. 5 Azusa Pacific 270.905-258.625 in a National College Acrobatics and Tumbling Association meet at Penn State Behrend's Junker Center. The meet had been moved to the venue because of scheduling conflicts at Hagerty Family Events Center.

Gannon, ranked No. 4 nationally in the NCATA, beat a Top-10 team for the third consecutive meet after previously defeating No. 6 Frostburg State and No. 10 Belmont Abbey. The Knights (5-0) are now halfway through a rugged stretch during which they face six consecutive teams that were ranked among the Top 10 in NCATA Preseason poll.

Gannon will host No. 7 Fairmont State on Monday before going on the road to face No. 1 Baylor and No. 3 Quinnipiac in the final two weeks of the regular season.

This was the third consecutive time that Gannon had defeated Azusa Pacific in the series between the national powers. GU won at Azusa Pacific in California during the 2023 regular season, and the Knights beat the Cougars in the 2022 NCATA National semifinals.

Gannon celebrated Senior Night by recognizing 14 student-athletes who have made a big impact on the program: Brianna Arre, Annie Colantonio (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin), Caitlyn Crawford (Reston, Va./South Lakes), Grace Harrick (Union City, Pa./Mercyhurst Preparatory School), Varvara Liashenko (Atlanta, Ga./Dekalb School of the Arts), Montana Muller (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua), Ali Price (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge), Kathryn Rhine (Damascus, Ore./Clackamas), Madison Rhine (Damascus, Ore./Clackamas), Kat Rodriguez (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall), Courtney Solensky (Columbia, Conn./E.O. Smith), and McKenna Wettstein (Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead), along with team managers Brenna Burns and Elizabeth Hartman.

 
Gannon impressive:

The Golden Knights turned in their second-highest score of the season, and, perhaps surprisingly, they won all six events against another Top-5 team.

Gannon edged Azusa 38.00-37.15 in the opening Compulsory Event led by a 9.80 in the Toss and a 9.75 in the Pyramid.

The Knights then edged the Cougars 28.55-27.30 in the Acro Event as they turned in a 9.70 score in the 5 Element heat and a 9.65 in the 7 Element heat.

In Event 3, the Pyramid, Gannon topped Azusa 28.15-26.10 as GU scored 9.85 in the Inversion and 9.5 in the Synchronized Pyramid.

As a result, Gannon led 94.70-90.55 at halftime.
 

Solid second half:

The Golden Knights opened the second half by dominating one of their strongest events, the Toss. GU won the Toss 28.90-26.75, thanks to a 9.60 in the 450 Salto, a 9.60 in the Synchronized, and 9.70 in the Open Toss. Gannon won NCATA Event National titles in 2023 in both the Synchronized and Open Toss.

Gannon again was solid in the Tumbling Event, winning 54.825-52.425 on strength of Ty Upton's (South Amboy, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas) 9.750 in the Aerial Pass, Ali Price's (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) 9.650 in the 6 Element Pass, and Kat Rodriguez's (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall) 9.425 in the Open Pass.

The meet concluded with the Team Event as Gannon bounced back from a tough Team Event performance in its win over Belmont Abbey. The Golden Knights turned in a solid 92.48 score to top Azusa's 88.90.

 
Gannon's lineup:

This was Gannon's lineup from Tuesday:
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, 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