Quinnipiac acrobatics & tumbling will advance to the NCATA Semifinals after beating the No. 6 Iona Gaels 263.545 to 255.875.
The Bobcats came out strong, returning to the NCATA Championships looking for revenge after last season’s elimination in the semifinal round against Gannon.
Quinnipiac faced off against Iona earlier in the season, beating the Gaels 264.280 to 257.475.
The Bobcats held the lead over the Gaels for the entirety of the competition, never letting the Gaels get within range of their scores.
“We came back even stronger round after round and that’s what our team is all about, pushing each round to improve every turn,” senior base Hallie Fowler said.
Score wise, the Bobcats were able to do just that, coming out stronger and better each round to widen their lead over the Gaels.
After the compulsory, acro and pyramid heats, the Bobcats went into the half with a 5.375 point lead on Iona, with Quinnipiac only adding to its lead in the toss, tumbling and team heats.
“We really dug down deep and I think that we’re a team that just keeps on going,” sophomore base and tumbler Sarah Abladian said. “We are really excited for tomorrow and we’re really ready.”
Despite advancing to the quarterfinals, Quinnipiac looks to clean up some aspects of its routine. One part of their match, the Bobcats look to clean up, after some mistakes on the mat, is their tosses, tumbling and team routine.
“Today our acro rounds had a bit of a struggle, I don’t expect to see that tomorrow,” head coach Mary Ann Powers said. “I think they are gonna bring that back and then I think the second half on our tosses and our tumbling, coaches are going to make a few strategical decisions to rope that back in.”
Yet Quinnipiac had one strong advantage over the Gaels: experience.
Quinnipiac has years of experience competing at the national level, consistently appearing in the NCATA National Championships since the sport’s inception at the collegiate level in 2009.
For Iona, they are a young, fresh team. This season is its second season of competing, after the team was formed in the 2024 season. Not to mention, the team is made up of 12 freshmen and 14 sophomores.
The Bobcats will face off tomorrow, April 24, against No. 2 Oregon at 4:30 CST (5:30 EST). Quinnipiac faced its only loss of the season at the hands of Oregon by 1.215 points.
“We know what we need to do to prepare for tomorrow,” Fowler said.
