The North Carolina gymnastics team’s first meet against Maryland on Jan. 26 could not have been better.
There were no slips, no lapses in focus, no mental errors and most importantly — no injuries. The Tar Heels cruised to a victory in front of nearly 3,000 fans.
But with senior Michelle Ikoma and freshman Christina Pheil still sidelined with injuries and a crowd filled with the Terrapin faithful, UNC could not recapture the momentum in its second meet against Maryland on Friday, which eventually led to a 194.425 to 194.925 defeat.
To begin the match, UNC grabbed a solid score on the uneven bars — the team’s best event — and led Maryland 48.925 to 48.050 after the first rotation.
But the second rotation, the vault, proved to be UNC’s downfall. In January’s meet against Maryland, UNC scored a season-high of 48.75 on the vault. But in Friday’s meet, the Tar Heels could only muster a 47.85 on the vault — the lowest score of the season.
Coach Derek Galvin said there were no glaring mistakes on the vault, but the strict judges kept the scores low.
“In vault we did well, but the judging was more stringent than usual in that event,” Galvin said. “If we would have the judging we’ve experienced this season, we would have been above a 195.”
The Tar Heels did recover by scoring a 48.8 on the floor exercise and 48.850 on the balance beam, but it was not enough to overcome the Terrapins, who grabbed their second-best team score of the season.
As a team, UNC had its struggles, but individual gymnasts managed to maintain consistency. Junior Haley Watts and sophomore Lexi Cappalli placed second and third in the all-around competition with scores of 39.075 and 38.850, respectively.
Ikoma missed her second straight match, and Pheil has not participated in competition since late January.
Galvin said the team is hoping to have Ikoma back for the bars routine in Friday’s meet against Towson but added that it still will take a couple of weeks until Ikoma and Pheil are ready for full competition.
Despite the lack of depth, Galvin said he is happy with how some of the gymnasts have stepped up and are not backing down from the spotlight.
“Our gymnasts competed,” Galvin said. “The team really showed a lot of determination and a lot of enthusiasm, and I was proud of the way they finished the meet.”
“They fought from the beginning to the very end.”
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