HAMDEN, CT - The No. 15 Iona University acrobatics and tumbling team battled No. 3 Quinnipiac in a 270.825-261.480 defeat at M&T Bank Arena. The Gaels reached the 260 point mark for the second straight meet in a strong effort vs. one of the top teams in the nation.
HEAD COACH THOUGHTS
"We are so incredibly proud of our athletes," said head coach
Jacquie Eshleman. "We competed against an originating program, with an incredibly strong and experienced team who are ranked No. 3 in the nation."
"We were able to hang close through the majority of the meet; being very competitive compared to other ranked teams this season," added Eshleman. "This team continues to break barriers and establish a culture of success as a first year team with 17 true freshman, and six transfers that anything is possible!"
COMPULSORY
Quinnipiac won the opening event by four-tenths of a point, 38.05-37.65. The Gaels earned a 9.65-9.55 win in the acro heat and were narrowly edged in the tumbling heat by just .05 points in the meet's opening frame.
ACRO
The Bobcats earned a second tight win in the acro event by .75 points, 28.85-28.10. The home team took all three heats. Both squads' top score came in the seven-element heat at 9.75-9.65.
PYRAMID
Quinnipiac took its third event by less than a point, besting the Gaels 29.40-29.00 with a small advantage in each of the three events. All three events saw strong scores with the open heat seeing the best scorers for each team, 9.90-9.75. The Bobcats held a 96.30-96.75 lead at halftime.
TOSS
A fourth straight event win for Quinnipiac by under a point saw the home team earn a 27.60-26.80 win. Iona earned a 9.15 in the 450 Salto as its top heat in the event.
TUMBLING
Quinnipiac earned a win in the tumbling event, 56.175-52.900. Junior
Alyssa Lentz posted the top score in the aerial pass heat at 9.50. Freshman
Olivia Montalbano and graduate
Athena Martinez earned 9.050 scorers in the six-element and open pass heats, respectively.
TEAM EVENT
Quinnipiac took the finale, 90.75-87.03.
OVERALL
With a top score possibility of 287.430 based on start values, the Gaels earned all but 25.95 points. Quinnipiac's start value max was 295.590 and fell 24.77 short of its top possible total.
THE LINEUP
- #1 Georgia Mason, freshman
- #2 Athena Martinez, graduate
- #3 Annabella Cicci, freshman
- #4 Alyssa Lentz, junior
- #5 Liz Janeiro, freshman
- #6 Teresa Jennings, freshman
- #7 Brooke O'Brien, freshman
- #8 Rachelle Ricafranca, freshman
- #9 Olivia Montalbano, freshman
- #10 Bella St. Louis, freshman
- #11 Samantha Gonzalez, freshman
- #14 Sophia Huertas, freshman
- #19 Alexandra Swaris, freshman
- #22 Nicole Bonnett, junior
- #23 Jenna Roby, freshman
- #26 Rebecca Lane, junior
- #27 Alia Ellis, freshman
- #31 Portia Dryden, freshman
- #40 Paige Delman, junior
- #43 Gia Arias, freshman
- #45 Emma Kelley, freshman
UP NEXT
Iona is back in action on Wednesday in its regular season home finale at the Hynes Center. The meet starts at 6 p.m. against Georgian Court University and can be seen live on ESPN+. Admission is free for home acro events in New Rochelle.
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