UNC gymnastics earns a victory over Temple at home on Saturday, 195.600-195.425

The North Carolina gymnastics team returned home to Carmichael arena and defeated Temple University with a final score of 195.600 to 195.425 on Saturday night. After a win and a loss in the Alabama Tri Meet, this victory was exactly what the Tar Heels needed to move forward during the late season.

What happened?

The Tar Heels faced off against the Owls in four events: the vault, floor exercise, uneven parallel bars and balance beam. 

During the first rotation of the meet, UNC competed in the vault and finished with a score of 49.175. Senior Emery Summey continued to stay consistent, recording a score of 9.800. Sophomore Kate Greene saw a slight dip in her previous scores from earlier this season, but still scored a 9.725. Sophomore Cory Shinohara excelled in the vault with a 9.875. The fourth Tar Heel to compete was first-year Julia Knower, who also received a 9.875. Hoping to stay consistent with the past two scores, first-year Lali Dekanoidze scored 9.875. Finally for this rotation, junior Jay Weil looked to keep up the momentum, but ended with a 9.750.

While UNC was on the vault, Temple excelled on the uneven parallel bars by scoring a 48.750 on that rotation.

The second rotation put the Tar Heels on uneven parallel bars and the Owls on vault. The first Tar Heel to compete was sophomore Jamie Shearer, who competed in every bar lineup but fell early in her set with a score of 8.125. Next was all-around junior Bri Greenlow. Greenlow showed off what she can do as she stayed consistent and scored 9.775.

Knower showed up on bars and had 9.825. Fourth was Dekanoidze, who scored 9.950. Isabel Schaefer showed what she could do as she received another great result of 9.875. Finally, junior Elizabeth Culton added a score of 9.025.

Temple took a shot at the vault and continued to test UNC, as the Owls inched closer by scoring 48.675. 

After rotation two, UNC was beating Temple by just .2 points.

UNC’s final beam score was a 49.125. The first member of the team on beam was Summey as she continued to keep up her strong performance with a 9.750. Shearer received a 9.725 score on the beam, and junior Hannah Nam finished with a 9.250. 

Back at it again, Dekanoidze received a 9.875 to continue her stellar meet. Culton improved her previous score and put up a 9.875. The final Tar Heel on beam was Knower, who finished off strong with a 9.900.

While UNC was on beam, Temple received a total score on floor was 49.025. 

The final rotation had UNC on floor and Temple on beam. UNC came out strong with one of its best competitors, Nam. Nam scored 9.775. Senior Shailyn St. Brice shined in her first event of the night and received a 9.600. Greenlow hit the floor hard and stayed consistent with her high scores, getting a 9.100. 

No surprise, all-around star Dekanoidze did a great job on the floor with a score of 9.850. With the second to last event of the night, Culton scored a 9.875. Finally, Knower put UNC ahead with her 9.650 score.
 

Who stood out? 

Dekanoidze had a phenomenal performance as she received the highest scores in both uneven parallel bars with a 9.950. She also earned the highest all around score. 

When was it decided?

Throughout the meet,  UNC and Temple were neck and neck. Most rotations, only a few tenths of a point separated the two teams. In the end, North Carolina was able to pull through with stellar floor routines to come out on top.

Why does it matter?

This match helped continue the Tar Heels lead in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League, EAGL. After splitting in the Alabama Tri Meet, UNC remained steadily in the win column on Saturday and improved to 8-5.

When do they play next?

The North Carolina gymnastics team hosts West Virginia on Thursday, February 24th at 7 p.m.