The Arizona GymCats were coming off a high. The team had been improving their scores—as a team and as individuals—almost on a weekly basis. Elizabeth LaRusso and Malia Hargrove had both won weekly honors from the Pac-12 in recent weeks. Then came the match against the UCLA Bruins, a 197.900 to 195.325 loss with the team’s lowest home score of the season.
“Worst performance of the year,” said Arizona head coach John Court. “By far.”
The GymCats scored lower in their first meet of the season, a 194.950 that dropped them to third place in a quad meet at Ohio State.