PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The No. 1-ranked Baylor acrobatics & tumbling team finished with a win at No. 15 Duquesne, 275.030-256.210, on Tuesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
The Bears (6-0) defeated the Dukes (3-2) by 18.82 points to increase the winning streak to 44 meets. BU started the meet with an 18-point advantage in start value up on DUQ.
 
To start off the meet in Compulsory, BU and the Dukes all executed the required skills with a start value of 10 in each heat. In the Acro heat, Baylor scored a 9.3 and Duquesne followed with an 8.90. BU took the Pyramid heat, 9.65 to 9.55. Winning the Toss, Baylor scored a 9.95 followed by DUQ's 9.45. In the Tumbling heat, BU scored an 8.95, the Dukes scoring a 8.65. Through one event, the score was 37.85 to 36.55, Baylor up by 1.3 points.
 
To start the optional portion of the meet, BU started the competition in the Acro event with their 5 Element heat, featuring Emily Bott as the first top and Leavy McDonald as the base, competing a high press, then Jordan Gruendler stepping in and performing the high handstand to straddle, scoring a 9.75/10. The Dukes followed with a 9.65/10 score in their heat. In the synchronized 6 Element heat, with four different pairs of tops and bases (Aliyah Thomas/Meredith Wells, Payton Washington/Addi Grandy, Charlyze Hemby/Wells and Makayla Vasquez/Josie Sutter), the Bears scored a 9.45/10, followed by 8.35/9.25 from Duquesne. Washington and Thomas competed a high press, lowered and pop-around, before Vasquez and Hemby compete the inverted handstand. In the third heat, Gruendler and McDonald scored a 9.90/10 after competing a new skill for the duo and a new combination of skills – the one-armed handstand to 'pencil', before Gruendler competes the 'pencil' while McDonald slides to splits. They are the only duo to compete these elements in the country. DUQ followed it up with a score of 9.5/9.80 in its heat. For the Acro event, BU scored a 29.10/30 to the Dukes' 27.50/29.05, now totaling 66.95 to 64.05 through two events and Baylor leading by 2.9 points.
 
In the Pyramid event, BU started it off with a 9.7/10 score in the Inversion heat with Gruendler and McDonald with the one-handed handstand, and DUQ followed with a 9.15/9.70. Topping the Synchronized heat were Washington and Bott, based by mid-level bases McDonald and Wells, respectively. They scored a 9.90/10 on their high walk-in to extension, while the Dukes produced a 8.85/9.90. In the Open heat, Gruendler topped McDonald and competed the inverted high-handstand, scoring a 9.70/10, which Duquesne followed with an 9.75/9.90 in their Open heat. For the Pyramid event, Baylor scored a 29.30/30, while the Dukes scored a 27.75/29.50. 
 
At the half, BU was up 96.25/100 to DUQ's 91.80/98.55, leading by 4.45 points.
 
To kick off the second half in the Toss event, it was Washington topping the Salto heat, competing the kick-double and finishing with a score of 9.7/10, followed by an 8.6/9 from Duquesne. In the Synchronized heat, Washington and Gabby Kaminski were the tops, scoring 9.75/9.90 which the Dukes followed with a score of 8.5/9. In the final heat, the Open heat, Kaminski was the top, scoring a 9.8/9.90 with her back-double, which Duquesne scored a 9.2/9.4 against. At the end of the Toss event, Baylor totaled 29.25/29.80 while the Dukes had a 26.30/29.50. Through four events, BU had a score of 125.50/129.80 while DUQ had a 118.10/125.95, the Bears up by 7.4 points.
 
In the Tumbling event, starting in the Duo for the Bears were Thomas and Gigi Rendino who scored a 9.5/10 on their roundoff whip arabian roundoff back handspring back layout 540 pass, followed by a score of 7.9/9.25 from Duquesne. In the Trio were Bott, Sophia Neylon and Madden Werner, competing a roundoff back handspring back layout 540 to roundoff whip back layout 360, earning a score of 8.30/10 which the Dukes put a 8.35/8.75 up against. In the Quad pass were Washington, Aliyah Kaloostian, Sarah Kerr and Kaminski, scoring a 9.55/10 for their punch front back handspring back layout 540 roundoff back layout 360 pass, while DUQ put up a score of 7.60/8.0. For the Aerial pass it was Kerr, who scored a 9.85/10 after competing a front handspring front tuck round off back handspring back layout 540 roundoff back layout 360 pass, while Duquesne earned a 9.20/9.55 score. Competing in the 6 Element heat was Kaloostian competing a front punch roundoff whip whip back handspring back layout 540, earning a 9.675/10 score; DUQ earning a score of 9.225/9.75. Washington earned a 9.975/10 for the Open heat with a punch front round off back handspring back layout 540 roundoff back layout 360, with the Dukes following with a 9.225/9.55. Combined, Baylor had a score of 56.85/60 to finish the Tumbling event while Duquesne had a score of 51.50/54.85. After five events, BU led 182.35/189.80 to 169.600/180.80, up by 12.75 points.
 
In Team event, Baylor competed first and scored a 92.68/109.18. The Dukes came next, scoring an 86.610/100.16.
 
The meet finalized, BU came out on top with a 275.030/298.98 score against Duquesne's 256.210/280.96; the Bears winning by 18.82 points.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Gruendler competed the 'pencil' for the first time this season, both stationary and atop a straight slide to split from McDonald.
• The highest score of the night was a 9.975 from Payton Washington in the Open Tumbling Pass.
• BU is on a 44-meet winning streak.
• The Bears are 4-0 on the road so far this season.

 
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