Matt Gad – Sports Writer
The Owls set two records Saturday in their meet against Bridgeport University. They have had a tough stretch so far but this performance could definitely be seen as a confidence booster.
Southern fell 194.075 to 192 to the Purple Knights but that 192 they put up was the most points scored in program history. And that alone should make anyone feel great.
“The meet went great,” head coach Jerry Nelson said. “We set a new record for balance beam. We set a new record as a team. There’s a lot of excitement in the air and it was awesome.”
Back at the 2015 ECAC Championship the program initially set their points record at 191.875. On the balance beam Southern had a team score of 48.5, eclipsing the previous beam record of 48.375 set March 6 of last year in a competition with Rutgers, Towson and West Chester.
“I think the meet went really well today” Tiffany Elliot said, on behalf of her record-breaking team. “Last week we really put a lot of work into the gym and I think that we came together today and supported each other and went out there and had a good time.”
Elliot herself scored a 9.75 on vault, earning her a third place finish. Alexandra Avendano, a captain, scored 9.7 and finished sixth in the event area. The top finisher for the Owls in the bars portion of the meet was Kathleen Aberger, who claimed fourth place, scoring 9.725.
Assessing the season so far, Nelson said the team had a rough meet last week at Yale but since changed attitudes in preparation for Bridgeport.
“We did well in the gym. We did well here on the competitive floor and I’m very, very proud of this team,” he said.
The women have had to get used to facing higher level competition this year with Division I level opponents. As Nelson said, they recently had a meet with Yale at their facility. This Saturday the Owls will travel to compete at Brown University in Providence, N.H.
“Our season has been going well,” Elliot said. “I think that this was a good meet to build off of and next week we are going to do even better.”
Rotem Porat, a senior, scored a 9.8 on the balance beam, which tied her for second place with teammate Kathleen Aberger. Two other teammates, Keylea Brothers and Kylyn Dawkins, scored identical 9.65s for sixth place ties.
Going forward, Nelson is just looking for constant improvement. He just hopes the team is able to keep moving forward.
“We just want to continue raising our scores, raising the amount of hits that we have,” said Nelson. “We are looking forward to competing against Division I Brown next weekend.”
Photo Courtesy: SCSU Athletic Communications
