Photo courtesy of Grayson Belanger/Maryland Athletics
No. 22 Maryland gymnastics faced Washington in its second meet of the season Saturday evening, following season-opening wins over New Hampshire, Long Island and George Washington in the Terrapin Quad.
The Terps held on for another win over the Huskies, but took a step back overall.
Maryland (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) overcame shaky performances on bars and floor to post a 194.625-193.575 win against Washington in College Park. The Terps began the year with a total score of 195.700 and ranked seventh in the Big Ten, but struggled on Saturday.
The Huskies came into Saturday’s meet after notching a similar score – 195.626 – though they placed only third in their quad meet.
Maryland began the first rotation on vault with a strong start from graduate Josephine Kogler. With a yurchenko full, she scored a 9.800. It was fellow graduate student Katrina Mendez-Abolnik, though, that contributed the highest score to the Terps with a 9.850 from her yurchenko one and a half.
Collectively, Maryland was able to score a tenth of a point better on vault (49.100) compared to last week’s event score (49.000).
Washington took to the bars for its first rotation. Deiah Moody’s routine scored a 9.850, but two sub-9.500 scores torpedoed Washington’s bars score.
The Huskies finished with a total score of 48.300, giving the Terps a solid lead entering the second rotation.
Sophomore Sarah Saville, one of Maryland’s finest bars performers last season, kicked off the Terps’ bars rotation. Her double layout dismount received a 9.700. Aine Reade and Maddie Komoroski both followed with team-high scores of 9.725.
Washington took to the vault for the second rotation, where Jessica Schaffer and Mary McDonough scored the highest at 9.800.
Ultimately, the Huskies would finish the second rotation with a total score of 96.800 and the Terps with a 97.625.
Maryland performed on the balance beam and Washington headed to the floor for the third rotation. Bowling Green transfer Megan Bingham would kickstart the event for the Terps with a solid 9.700 on her routine. Emily DeFrees had one of the standout performances of the night, though. The freshman stuck her double full dismount and earned a 9.875 – tied for the highest score of the night.
Washington’s Catilin McWilliams scored highest for the Huskies with a score of 9.825. This performance gaveWashington a final score of 144.800 to close out the third rotation. Maryland held on to its momentum and entered the final event with a 146.575.
The Terps struggled with falls and unclean passes throughout numerous routines in their final rotation on floor. Fortunately, Maddie Komoroski helped salvage the event score with a 9.875 score. Maryland finished the fourth rotation with a 48.050, its lowest score of the night, but escaped with the win.
Maryland gymnastics will travel to University Park to take on Penn State on Sunday, Jan. 25, for its first away meet of the season.
