Thursday, April 22
Waco, Texas
7 p.m.
Baylor
vs
Oregon
No. 2 A&T Opens NCATA National Championships with No. 3 Oregon
4/21/2021 12:53:00 PM | Acrobatics & Tumbling
The Bears and Ducks will compete for the third time this season on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT inside the Ferrell Center
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
It's been 726 days since Baylor acrobatics & tumbling defeated Oregon for its fifth-consecutive NCATA national championship in the 2019 final before a home crowd at the Ferrell Center.
The two teams that have combined to win the previous nine NCATA national titles will meet again in the national tournament, only this time it will come in the second of two semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ferrell Center. Top-seeded Azusa Pacific (3-0) faces fourth-seeded Hawaii Pacific (2-1) in the other semifinal at 2 p.m., with the winners advancing to Friday's 7 p.m. final.
"My goal is always to peak at the right time," said Baylor coach Felecia Mulkey, who is 16-2 against her former team, "and we have not peaked yet. So, we hope to see that this week."
Second-seeded Baylor, the five-time defending national champion, didn't get the chance to win a sixth last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bears (4-1) avenged their first loss in four years with a convincing 4 ½-point win over Oregon (2-2) two weeks ago in the regular-season finale at home.
"I think there's an overall sense of gratitude to be at this point," Mulkey said. "We talked about this at our team meeting last night, how grateful we are not only to have a season – because some schools didn't have a season this year – but also to be the four to get to this point after we weren't able to do it last year. It's been such a strange year, we're just taking it day by day and literally meet by meet at this point."
Initially, this year's championship was scheduled to be held at the University of Oregon. But, it opened back up for bidding because of tighter restrictions and protocols in the West Coast region. Baylor is hosting the NCATA National Championships for the third time in the last five tournaments and the fourth time overall.
"I was not surprised at all, because Baylor is Baylor and they always do it the right way," Mulkey said. "When it opened back up to re-bid, everyone in the Baylor community was like, 'We want to do this.' . . . The cool part was just to watch the Baylor community as a whole go, 'If we're going to do it, let's do it here. These kids haven't had a championship in two years, let's give them something really special.'''
Mulkey said she hasn't had to be tied up with planning the championship meet. Baylor assistant AD Deedee Brown Campbell and A&T Director of Operations Treasure Fields headed the committee that planned it in advance and will run the two-day championships.
"I am so impressed with what they've done in a year of COVID, and how special they are making it for the student-athletes that got here," Mulkey said. "Baylor jumped in there and said, 'We'll do it,' and the NCATA said, 'OK,' but it really goes to all the individuals who were willing to put in a little extra work to host it here."
In a schedule condensed because of COVID restrictions, Baylor dropped a tight road contest at Oregon (281.635-280.660) on March 6, the Bears' first loss in four years and just the second loss in seven years under Mulkey (63-2).
But, they reeled off three-straight wins and were at their best 12 days ago in a home-court win over Oregon, 287.430-283.885, that vaulted them one spot to No. 2 in the final regular-season rankings.
Facing the Ducks for the third time this season and second time in two weeks, "It doesn't really change anything for us," Mulkey said.
"It's really just going out and executing what we know we can do," she said. "We've spent the last six or seven practices just cleaning up some things that we could and just maintaining. Really, at this point, you're just looking for as many execution points as possible.
"Our mindset hasn't changed at all. Just execute, and then go after those pinpointed things like our toss event, for example. There's a lot of tenths (of a point) to be gained there from our last meet. We've been working on that, and hopefully we'll be able to show that this week."
Baylor dominated the NCATA awards that were handed out Wednesday night, with sophomore tumbler/top Emily Tobin named Most Outstanding Athlete, Riley Chimwala selected Freshman of the Year and junior Maddie McNamee receiving the Louise Goodrum Academic Award. Tobin, Chimwala and sophomore Kam Kitchens also earned All-America honors.
After a season-high score against Oregon, Mulkey said it wasn't her intention to "go in and change a bunch of things."
"But, there are always unforeseen circumstances," she said. "We had an unfortunate injury and had to change everything. Not only did we recover all of the start value, we actually gained start value with new personnel coming in. So, I'm proud of them. And then, the mindset. Anytime anything changes, the mindset could be a detriment. And this team, you really can't shake them. They're ready to go."
The NCATA National Championships will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and NCATA executive director Janell Cook calling the action.
"I think all three meets are going to be fantastic," Mulkey said. "The teams are really well matched-up. I think the fans have something in store. I hope the Baylor faithful will come out and support everyone, because it's going to be a week of athleticism and competition. It's going to be a lot of fun."
WACO, Texas – The No. 2 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team will start its journey to its sixth-straight national title with a semifinal matchup in the 2021 NCATA National Championships against No. 3 Oregon on Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center. The Bears (4-1) and Ducks (2-2) will see each other on the mat for the third time this season.
In their last meeting, BU bested Oregon 287.430-283.885 on April 10th in Waco. Oregon is looking to avoid a three-meet losing streak, while head coach Felecia Mulkey is looking to improve upon her 16-2 mark against her former school.
Two Bears have won back-to-back weekly honors, Kam Kitchens and Emily Tobin have taken home Athlete of the Week and Specialist of the Week, respectively. Riley Chimwala was named NCATA Freshman of the Week for the third-straight week.
The Bears will look to go for their sixth-straight national title (2015-19), while Mulkey is going for her 10th career national title and her sixth at Baylor.
The Bears are hosting the NCATA Championships for the second-consecutive time (2019), with the other semifinal happening on Thursday at 2 p.m. between No. 1 Azusa Pacific and No. 4 Hawaii Pacific. The winner of the two semifinals will meet on Friday, April 23 at 7 p.m. CT for the national championship.
The meet will be broadcast on Big 12 Now (ESPN+) and for tickets visit BaylorBears.com/tickets.
For updates on the program, follow @BaylorAcroTumb on Twitter and Instagram and @BaylorAcrobaticsandTumbling on Facebook.
Baylor Bear Insider
It's been 726 days since Baylor acrobatics & tumbling defeated Oregon for its fifth-consecutive NCATA national championship in the 2019 final before a home crowd at the Ferrell Center.
The two teams that have combined to win the previous nine NCATA national titles will meet again in the national tournament, only this time it will come in the second of two semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ferrell Center. Top-seeded Azusa Pacific (3-0) faces fourth-seeded Hawaii Pacific (2-1) in the other semifinal at 2 p.m., with the winners advancing to Friday's 7 p.m. final.
"My goal is always to peak at the right time," said Baylor coach Felecia Mulkey, who is 16-2 against her former team, "and we have not peaked yet. So, we hope to see that this week."
Second-seeded Baylor, the five-time defending national champion, didn't get the chance to win a sixth last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bears (4-1) avenged their first loss in four years with a convincing 4 ½-point win over Oregon (2-2) two weeks ago in the regular-season finale at home.
"I think there's an overall sense of gratitude to be at this point," Mulkey said. "We talked about this at our team meeting last night, how grateful we are not only to have a season – because some schools didn't have a season this year – but also to be the four to get to this point after we weren't able to do it last year. It's been such a strange year, we're just taking it day by day and literally meet by meet at this point."
Initially, this year's championship was scheduled to be held at the University of Oregon. But, it opened back up for bidding because of tighter restrictions and protocols in the West Coast region. Baylor is hosting the NCATA National Championships for the third time in the last five tournaments and the fourth time overall.
"I was not surprised at all, because Baylor is Baylor and they always do it the right way," Mulkey said. "When it opened back up to re-bid, everyone in the Baylor community was like, 'We want to do this.' . . . The cool part was just to watch the Baylor community as a whole go, 'If we're going to do it, let's do it here. These kids haven't had a championship in two years, let's give them something really special.'''
Mulkey said she hasn't had to be tied up with planning the championship meet. Baylor assistant AD Deedee Brown Campbell and A&T Director of Operations Treasure Fields headed the committee that planned it in advance and will run the two-day championships.
"I am so impressed with what they've done in a year of COVID, and how special they are making it for the student-athletes that got here," Mulkey said. "Baylor jumped in there and said, 'We'll do it,' and the NCATA said, 'OK,' but it really goes to all the individuals who were willing to put in a little extra work to host it here."
In a schedule condensed because of COVID restrictions, Baylor dropped a tight road contest at Oregon (281.635-280.660) on March 6, the Bears' first loss in four years and just the second loss in seven years under Mulkey (63-2).
But, they reeled off three-straight wins and were at their best 12 days ago in a home-court win over Oregon, 287.430-283.885, that vaulted them one spot to No. 2 in the final regular-season rankings.
Facing the Ducks for the third time this season and second time in two weeks, "It doesn't really change anything for us," Mulkey said.
"It's really just going out and executing what we know we can do," she said. "We've spent the last six or seven practices just cleaning up some things that we could and just maintaining. Really, at this point, you're just looking for as many execution points as possible.
"Our mindset hasn't changed at all. Just execute, and then go after those pinpointed things like our toss event, for example. There's a lot of tenths (of a point) to be gained there from our last meet. We've been working on that, and hopefully we'll be able to show that this week."
Baylor dominated the NCATA awards that were handed out Wednesday night, with sophomore tumbler/top Emily Tobin named Most Outstanding Athlete, Riley Chimwala selected Freshman of the Year and junior Maddie McNamee receiving the Louise Goodrum Academic Award. Tobin, Chimwala and sophomore Kam Kitchens also earned All-America honors.
After a season-high score against Oregon, Mulkey said it wasn't her intention to "go in and change a bunch of things."
"But, there are always unforeseen circumstances," she said. "We had an unfortunate injury and had to change everything. Not only did we recover all of the start value, we actually gained start value with new personnel coming in. So, I'm proud of them. And then, the mindset. Anytime anything changes, the mindset could be a detriment. And this team, you really can't shake them. They're ready to go."
The NCATA National Championships will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and NCATA executive director Janell Cook calling the action.
"I think all three meets are going to be fantastic," Mulkey said. "The teams are really well matched-up. I think the fans have something in store. I hope the Baylor faithful will come out and support everyone, because it's going to be a week of athleticism and competition. It's going to be a lot of fun."
WACO, Texas – The No. 2 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team will start its journey to its sixth-straight national title with a semifinal matchup in the 2021 NCATA National Championships against No. 3 Oregon on Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center. The Bears (4-1) and Ducks (2-2) will see each other on the mat for the third time this season.
In their last meeting, BU bested Oregon 287.430-283.885 on April 10th in Waco. Oregon is looking to avoid a three-meet losing streak, while head coach Felecia Mulkey is looking to improve upon her 16-2 mark against her former school.
Two Bears have won back-to-back weekly honors, Kam Kitchens and Emily Tobin have taken home Athlete of the Week and Specialist of the Week, respectively. Riley Chimwala was named NCATA Freshman of the Week for the third-straight week.
The Bears will look to go for their sixth-straight national title (2015-19), while Mulkey is going for her 10th career national title and her sixth at Baylor.
The Bears are hosting the NCATA Championships for the second-consecutive time (2019), with the other semifinal happening on Thursday at 2 p.m. between No. 1 Azusa Pacific and No. 4 Hawaii Pacific. The winner of the two semifinals will meet on Friday, April 23 at 7 p.m. CT for the national championship.
The meet will be broadcast on Big 12 Now (ESPN+) and for tickets visit BaylorBears.com/tickets.
For updates on the program, follow @BaylorAcroTumb on Twitter and Instagram and @BaylorAcrobaticsandTumbling on Facebook.
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