Despite a .836 increase in overall score, it wasn’t enough for Quinnipiac’s acrobatics and tumbling team to beat Fairmont State University a second time this season. On Dec. 5, the Bobcats edged the Falcons 264.304 – 263.379, but couldn’t come close to Fairmont State’s 273.52 on Saturday with 265.14 points.

With Baylor University unable to make it to California due to weather, Quinnipiac also faced Azusa Pacific, which hosted the competition. The Cougars defeated both the Bobcats and the Falcons with a total score of 274.86.

In the compulsory round, the Bobcats’s total of 38.65 wasn’t enough to beat either opponent who had totals of 39.07 and 39.17. The basket toss heat ended up being Quinnipiac’s best heat with a total of 9.85, which tied it with Fairmont State.

The Bobcats bested the Falcons and the Cougars in heat 1 of stunts with .03 and .14 points, respectively, above the other competitors, but their scores in the next two heats dropped, placing them behind Fairmont State and Azusa Pacific by four points.

Quinnipiac’s scores in the pyramid (28.70) and the basket toss (27.40) earned the Bobcats second place in both events ahead of Fairmont State.

The Bobcats couldn’t fight their way into the top two with their scores in the last two events of tumbling (48.74) and the team routine (97.39), leaving them in third place out of the participating teams.

“The team definitely stepped it up in the tumbling round which was better than our season opener against Maryland,” Quinnipiac head coach Mary Ann Powers said. “Erin Trotman added two connections to her specialty pass which boosted our overall score by a full point.

“We also scored higher in our basket toss rounds and in our team pyramid event. Our team routine predetermined values were higher for this meet; however we have plenty of room for improvement as the season progresses.”

Quinnipiac will host the University of Oregon March 21 at 7 p.m. at the TD Bank Sports Center.