The North Carolina gymnastics team suffered its second conference loss of the season in a 194.325-194.225 defeat on the road against Towson University on Friday.
What happened?
In the first rotation, the Tar Heels took on the bars while the Tigers took on the vault. UNC finished with an overall 48.075 score, behind The Tar Heels’ top-three finishers of first-year Elizabeth Culton, senior Mekyllah Williams and sophomore Emery Summey. They finished with scores of 9.850, 9.675, and 9.650, respectively. But the performance in bars wouldn't be enough to give the Tar Heels the lead because Towson finished with a score of 48.750 in the vault, heading into the second rotation.
In its turn on vault, North Carolina finished with an overall score of 48.600. But Towson would finish with a 48.325 score on the bars, to maintain its lead. Senior Khazia Hislop led the event for UNC with a score of 9.900, senior Mikayla Robinson was second with 9.775 and sophomore Drew Aldridge was third on the team with a score of 9.725.
In the third rotation, UNC took on the floor, and earned a 48.975 to take the lead for the first time in the match. Hislop led with a 9.825 score, and Culton, Robinson and first-year Hannah Nam all posted scores of 9.800.
Heading into the final rotation, the Tar Heels held a 145.650-145.550 lead over the Tigers. Although Towson would not do as well as North Carolina on the floor, only posting a 48.775 score, the beam score would cost UNC. The Tar Heels posted a 48.575 in their final event, the beam, which handed the Tigers the victory.
Who stood out?
Hislop was the dominant performer for the Tar Heels, leading the match in both the vault and the floor, posting a 9.900 score and a 9.825 in each, respectively.
For the Tigers, 9.875 was the best individual score, and it was posted by both first-year Amy Stewart and sophomore Emerson Hurst. Stewart reached the score in the bars, while Hurst did on the beam.
