No. 1 A&T Hosts Top-Ranked Matchup Against No. 2 Oregon

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

As much as Felecia Mulkey might want her team to prepare and get up for the Frostburg States and Augustanas of the acrobatics and tumbling world just like it does for Oregon, the 10^th-year Baylor coach knows that her student-athletes "didn't come here to just beat up on other teams."

"Our team is a completely different team" against Oregon, Mulkey said. "This is what they're hungry for. . . . They come here to compete, so we love competing against Oregon. We always match up really well against them."

In their 26^th meeting and first of at least two this year, top-ranked Baylor (2-0) will face No. 2 Oregon (1-0) at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Ferrell Center. The Bears have a 22-13 edge in the all-time series, but Mulkey is 22-2 against her former team, beating the Ducks in five of Baylor's eight NCATA Championship finals.

"I think it's more fun," said senior base Riley Chimwala, a three-time All-American. "We grow as a team every time we go up against Oregon, and I feel like they challenge us. That's the best thing for us."

Oregon trailed ninth-ranked Hawaii Pacific for the majority of its season-opening meet two weeks ago before using a decisive team event edge to beat the Sharks, 260.500-254.130.

"They had some first-meet jitters, I think, the first time out," Mulkey said of the Ducks, who lost to Baylor in last year's NCATA championship matchup. "But I don't think it was indicative of what we're going to see from them all year."

The Bears opened the season on the road with a dominant win over a second-year Texas Lutheran program. And while they won their 29^th-consecutive meet two weeks ago against UMHB, it didn't feel like a win for Mulkey.

Baylor improved its scores in 14 of the 20 heats and topped its previous overall score by more than 4 ½ points, but the Bears had a disappointing performance in the closing team event, getting outscored 97.49 to 96.92.

"Sometimes, a (win) doesn't feel like a (win)," Mulkey said. "That was one of them for us. I went back and watched video, and we actually had a really great meet, for the most part. We just made some uncharacteristic mistakes in team event with some falls. That is just not like us. . . We came out of that meet like, 'This doesn't feel good.' So, they've been really hungry."

If Baylor and Oregon are both on their games, watch out. Mulkey's lone two losses at Baylor (86-2) came on the road against Oregon in 2017 and 2021.

In the two weeks since the UMHB meet, Mulkey said she "rearranged some things in team event, changed some of the skills and some of the personnel so that we can definitely be more consistent."

"We actually took our start value up," she said. "You would think with switching things around, you would water it down a little bit. We will actually have a higher start value this meet than we did (against UMHB). We have a very deep bench, so we were able to pull some people in and place them in different places so that things are a little bit more secure.

"I think had we been able to go back out and do that team event one more time, it would have hit perfectly, and we would have scored a 104. But that's not how our sport works."

Chimwala, who was named the NCATA Athlete of the Week after the first two meets, said the team has been "really intentional about hitting team event."

"That's where a lot of our points come from, and I feel like everyone is just genuinely happy to see each other do well," Chimwala said. "You want to do well so that your teammates feel happy for you."

Gold T-shirts will be passed out to fans, while supplies last, for the Bears' "Go Gold" meet. An autograph session will take place after the meet, down on the Ferrell Center floor.

Sunday's meet will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor All-American Ashley Echelberger calling the action.

WACO, Texas – No. 1 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling returns to the Ferrell Center on Sunday with a 3 p.m. start time against No. 2 Oregon.

The Bears (2-0) gear up to face the Ducks (1-0) for the 25th time in program history. BU has won 22 matchups against Oregon, winning the last meet against the Ducks by 10.3 points in the 2023 NCATA National Championship. Oregon, one of the eight founders of the sport, is in its 14^th season.

The head coach for the Ducks is Taylor Susnara, in her third season with Oregon. UO is the only program the Bears will face this season where the head coach is not one of Felecia Mulkey's former student-athletes. Mulkey recruited Susnara to Oregon, but she had already come to Baylor by the time Susnara was on campus.

Baylor is on a 29-meet win streak dating back to the 2021 season. The Bears are coming off a win over No. 11 Mary Hardin-Baylor, defeating the Crusaders by 7.405 points on Feb. 11. The top score of the meet came in five-element acro with a 9.95.

Sunday will serve as A&T's "Go Gold" meet, as well as the Cub Club event of the month. An
autograph session will take place post-meet, and gold T-shirts will be free to fans while supplies last.

The meet will be streamed on ESPN+, with John Morris on play-by-play and alumna Ashley Echelberger providing color commentary. Live results for the meet can be found here.

A full recap and final scores will be posted to BaylorBears.com/acro after the conclusion of the meet.

To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.

- BaylorBears.com -

No. 1 A&T Hosts Top-Ranked Matchup Against No. 2 Oregon

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Players Mentioned

Riley Chimwala

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