Sunday, January 19
Pittsburgh, PA
2 p.m.
Ball State University
192.750
at
192.225
Pittsburgh
Total Team Effort Leads Gym Cards To Win At Pitt
January 19, 2020 | Gymnastics
Casual observers of gymnastics don't often consider a team's grit and toughness when thinking about a team's success. Ball State is making those traits its calling card. The Cardinals traveled to Pittsburgh on Sunday and came away with a 193.750 - 193.225 dual meet victory.
"We never gave up and stayed in it. We are super gritty and focused as a group, head coach Joanna Saleem said. "Our whole team did a really good job on beam. They did a really nice job. To do that at the end of the meet with Pittsburgh on floor, our team did the right things and it paid off in the end."
The strange thing about Sunday's win at Pitt was no scores really jumped off the sheet, but the whole continues to be greater than the sum of the parts for the Cardinals, who saw eight different gymnasts record a routine of 9.725 or better. Alivia Ostendorf was an all-arounder (38.725) and had a 9.800 on floor and 9.750 on beam.
"It was definitely a team effort. We didn't have any one rockstar today, but everyone stepped up for us," Saleem said. "Liv was super consistent, and probably better than the scores looked on paper. She looked more confident and it was great for her to perform like that in just her second meet."
FINAL MEET RESULTS
Arden Hudson overcame adversity to compete in her usual three events and freshman Megan Teter delivered on bars when Pittsburgh had an early lead on the scoreboard.
"Arden did a great job. She missed a day of practice and couldn't eat much this week," Saleem said. "Arden and Teter did a great on bars and Arden had another great beam routine."
On the scoreboard, the meet was on the beam. Ball State outscored the host team 48.550 - 47.025 in that event, and hopped on the bus back to Indiana victorious. While the win was great, the Cardinals are still looking forward to the season's bigger picture.
"This group trusts themselves and they recover from mistakes quickly. "It reinforces how good they are and if we can do that every week it'll pay off," Saleem said. "Especially how young we are. Our upperclassmen are leading and the younger gymnasts are learning and it's a cool thing to be a part of."
Ball State (2-1) will have the first of its four home meets next Sunday, Jan. 26 when it hosts a four-team event at Worthen Arena. The Cards' home opener is scheduled for 1 p.m.
"We never gave up and stayed in it. We are super gritty and focused as a group, head coach Joanna Saleem said. "Our whole team did a really good job on beam. They did a really nice job. To do that at the end of the meet with Pittsburgh on floor, our team did the right things and it paid off in the end."
The strange thing about Sunday's win at Pitt was no scores really jumped off the sheet, but the whole continues to be greater than the sum of the parts for the Cardinals, who saw eight different gymnasts record a routine of 9.725 or better. Alivia Ostendorf was an all-arounder (38.725) and had a 9.800 on floor and 9.750 on beam.
"It was definitely a team effort. We didn't have any one rockstar today, but everyone stepped up for us," Saleem said. "Liv was super consistent, and probably better than the scores looked on paper. She looked more confident and it was great for her to perform like that in just her second meet."
FINAL MEET RESULTS
Arden Hudson overcame adversity to compete in her usual three events and freshman Megan Teter delivered on bars when Pittsburgh had an early lead on the scoreboard.
"Arden did a great job. She missed a day of practice and couldn't eat much this week," Saleem said. "Arden and Teter did a great on bars and Arden had another great beam routine."
On the scoreboard, the meet was on the beam. Ball State outscored the host team 48.550 - 47.025 in that event, and hopped on the bus back to Indiana victorious. While the win was great, the Cardinals are still looking forward to the season's bigger picture.
"This group trusts themselves and they recover from mistakes quickly. "It reinforces how good they are and if we can do that every week it'll pay off," Saleem said. "Especially how young we are. Our upperclassmen are leading and the younger gymnasts are learning and it's a cool thing to be a part of."
Ball State (2-1) will have the first of its four home meets next Sunday, Jan. 26 when it hosts a four-team event at Worthen Arena. The Cards' home opener is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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