By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            As soon as Hope Bravo stuck her landing on the Ferrell Center mat at the end of an impressive tumbling aerial pass in Thursday's quarterfinal at the NCATA National Championships, the Baylor senior just knew. 
            "I felt it, for sure," said Bravo, who registered Baylor's highest score (9.925) in a convincing win over eighth-seeded Gannon, 279.200-263.390. "Running back towards the team and Coach (Felecia Mulkey), after hugging Coach U (Angelia Ucci), I felt the energy. When I landed, I was like, 'Yes, oh finally a good landing!'''
            Mulkey, whose team improved to 10-0, said Bravo's near-perfect landing was something she's been waiting to see all year. 
            "Those whips, I think she came out of the womb doing those whips," Mulkey said. "There's nobody in the country who can do them like her. They are flawless. Every deduction we've gotten this year on her pass, has been on her landing. She's been working really hard, and that was a pretty controlled landing. The elation you saw from the team is that we've been waiting on that to come. She can still clean it up a little bit at the end, so we're saving that one, too."
            That kind of nit-picking has helped Mulkey win all eight NCATA national championships, including the last four at Baylor. The smallest bobble, the slightest misstep, is always noticed. 
            While Baylor outscored the Gannon Lady Knights (4-2) by almost 16 points and had easily the highest score of the day, Mulkey said the Bears "left some room for improvement."
            That was particularly true in the second half of the meet, where Baylor recorded its lowest toss score since February (28.725) and third-lowest score in the team event (96.550) of the season.  
            "Usually, we're a good second-half team," Mulkey said. "Nothing terrible. We still did well. I'm proud of the girls. I'm glad we left a little room for improvement. Gives us something to fight for tomorrow. But overall, OK, maybe an A-minus. We have some work to do tomorrow."
            Baylor, which did not lose a heat all night, took control early with over a two-point edge in the compulsory event, 38.150-35.95. Just off the season highs, the Bears scored a 9.90 in the pyramid heat and 9.85 in toss. 
            By halftime, after the acro and pyramid events, Baylor was firmly in control with nearly a five-point lead, 96.875-91.975. 
            Even with a slight stumble and step off the mat by Mary Berdis in the trio pass, Baylor created separation in tumbling with impressive solo passes by Bravo, Kaylee Adams (9.825) and Bradley Hollier (9.750). 
            Going into the closing team event, the Bears had built up enough of a lead that they were already home-free short of a complete collapse. 
            "We're never perfect," senior Ashley Echelberger said. "That's what's great about this team. We know we have room for improvement, no matter how good we do. Since we have two more days, and leaving that room for improvement, it's great this early in the championship."
            Baylor, which had a 96.550 score in the team event, advances to the semifinals to face fourth-seeded Quinnipiac (5-2) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Bobcats, who lost to Baylor in last year's championship final, took out fifth-seeded Fairmont State in the closest of the four quarterfinals, 267.285-261.160. 
            Second-seeded Oregon (6-2) cruised past Hawaii Pacific and will face third-seeded Azusa Pacific (5-2) in Friday's early semifinal at 5 p.m. 



WACO, Texas – The No. 1-ranked Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team began postseason competition with a 279.200 to 263.390 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Gannon Thursday night at the Ferrell Center.
 
Baylor (10-0) topped the Lady Knights (5-2) by sweeping all six events and winning all 20 heats, securing its 28^th consecutive meet victory in the process. With the win, the Bears improve to 4-0 all-time against Gannon and have defeated the Lady Knights in the quarterfinals in three of the last four NCATA National Championship Tournaments.
 
Baylor opened the meet with a 38.150 to 35.950 event win in compulsory and carried that momentum into acro, extending the lead to 67.375 to 63.325 through two events.
 
In pyramid, the Bears scored above a 9.75 in all three heats, moving their meet total to 96.875, nearly five points ahead of the Lady Knights' 91.975 score at halftime.
 
Baylor began the second half of the meet strong with another event win in toss, staying in front 125.600 to 119.450, and put on a solid performance in tumbling to see the lead rise to 182.650 to 172.350.
 
Senior Hope Bravo led the charge in tumbling, scoring a 9.925 in the aerial pass. Seniors Kaylee Adams and Bailey Hollier also contributed passes that earned a 9.825 and 9.750 respectively.
 
The Bears finished off the meet with a 96.55 score in the team event, which sealed the victory.
 
With the win, Baylor will advance to face No. 4 Quinnipiac in a semifinal contest set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. It will be Baylor's sixth-consecutive NCATA semifinal appearance.

For tickets, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program, follow @BaylorAcroTumb on Twitter and Instagram and @BaylorAcrobaticsandTumbling on Facebook.
 
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
On Hope Bravo's aerial pass…
"I think she came out of the womb doing those whips. There's nobody in the country that can do them like her, they are flawless. She's been working really hard and that was a pretty controlled landing. She's got other passes, but why would we let her do anything else? She is the master of those whips."
- Baylor head coach Felecia Mulkey