Bruins hit multiple season bests, but Cal scores two 10s to win

When UCLA's Chae Campbell salutes after her vault, she usually nods her head up and down in approval of her performance. On Sunday afternoon, though, she was shaking her head.

The No. 9 UCLA gymnastics team scored a season low on vault at Pauley Pavilion, but recovered to record season and career highs to have a win against No. 3 Cal in sight. Two Golden Bears, however, scored perfect 10s to take the meet 198.400-197.775.

“We talked all week about competitive greatness and showing up and attacking those moments,” UCLA coach Janelle McDonald said. “It was a good reminder for us to not take anything

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for granted and to really, from from start to finish, attack those events.”

UCLA had some ground to make up after scoring a 49.125 on vault despite Emily Lee's leadoff 9.900, which allowed Cal to take the lead after the first rotation.

Two career-best scores on uneven bars gave UCLA a boost in the next rotation and its best event score of the season at 49.450. Frida Esparza and Campbell reached 9.950 for careerhighs and Selena Harris recorded her third straight 9.950. The three tied for first in the event.

Campbell's 9.950 included a 10 from one of the judges.

“I started crying because one of the judges gave me a 10,” she said. “I never thought I'd see that on bars. So that is a huge win for me. I've always had a really rough relationship with bars my whole career. It's just a reflection of how far I've come.”

The Golden Bears led 99.0098.700 at the midway point of the meet, but the Bruins had the lead in sight after scoring a 49.450 on balance beam. Emily Lee scored a leadoff 9.950, and was the first gymnast in the lineup on vault, beam and floor exercise on Sunday afternoon.

“In my head, I'm like, there's no pressure,” Lee said of the leadoff spot. “No one goes in front of me so it's like a clean slate. There's always pressure for me to do well and not make the rest of the lineup nervous or anything, but I never really feel that. I just think no one's done anything before me.”

Campbell made her return to balance beam and reached 9.925 in her first performance in the event since Jan. 6 at the Super 16 quad meet. Campbell had success in the event early in her career and earned All-American honors her freshman year.

“I had to go back and watch a lot of my videos from when I was a freshman and sophomore year just because in that time, I had a good mindset,” Campbell said. “Once I figured out what worked for me those first two years, my gymnastics and my consistency got a lot better.”

eMjae Frazier, younger sister of UCLA gymnast Margzetta Frazier, came up with a perfect 10.0 on floor to close out the event for the Golden Bears and give them a 148.675-149.150 advantage.

Every UCLA gymnast recorded a 9.900 or higher on floor exercise. Lee tied a career-best 9.900 and Emma Andres hit a career-high 9.925. The Bruins were dealt a major deduction when one gymnast landed out of bounds and ended the event with a 49.475 team score, but Nya Reed finished with a 9.950 for second place to give UCLA a 49.475 team score.

Mya Lauzon had Cal's second perfect 10 on balance beam to secure the win.

“We kind of let what was happening in the competition affect how we performed (last week),” McDonald said. “And today, we were really good about staying in our Bruin bubble and really focusing on what we needed to. I felt like they did that beautifully.”

UCLA next takes a two-meet road trip against Stanford and Arizona State before returning to Pauley Pavilion to host ACC opponent Clemson on March 16.