Pitt ends season with a big upset of UNC

It was a downhill season with a slam-bang finish.

Pitt gymnastics beat No. 3 EAGL opponent… It was a downhill season with a slam-bang finish.

Pitt gymnastics beat No. 3 EAGL opponent North Carolina, 194.1 to 193.725, conquering Cornell and Temple as well in the team’s last home showing of the season.

Saturday’s win was the team’s second overall on the season.

“We fed the right Panther,” head coach Debbie Yohman said. “There’s a Panther who falls off and a Panther who stays on, and we were the Panther who stayed on.”

Staying on the apparatus has been a problem for the team all season, making this victory all the more glorious as it only counted one fall all afternoon.

Staying on the apparatus was also important as gymnasts Dani Bryan and Jess Byich sustained injuries throughout the season, often leaving Pitt with only five competitors per event. If someone counted a fall, there was often no one to pick up the slack.

Yohman compared her victory to the football team’s upset over No. 2 West Virginia in December.

“Nobody thought they could do it,” she said. “This is what we’ve been trying to do all year.

“Everybody had to step up, and everybody did. It gives us a confidence we didn’t have all season. And motivation too,” she said.

Pitt began on the vault in accordance with Olympic rotation, which a team always follows at home. Junior Anya Chayka scored a career-high 9.8 on the vault and placed third. Freshman Molly Moyer earned a 9.775, and fellow freshman Shannon Vafiadou landed a 9.75.

With a season-high score of 48.6, the gymnasts moved onto the uneven parallel bars.

The Panthers tied their season high of 48.175 on the bars, as UNC posted a 48.925 on the vault, threatening Pitt who made it through the first two events without a fall.

Senior Sammi DeBone placed third on the bars with a 9.75, followed closely by senior Kaitlin Harrison with a 9.725. Sophomore Alix Croop tied Harrison’s score.

Pitt remained neck and neck with UNC as the Panthers moved to the beam and UNC competed on the bars.

DeBone counted one fall in the middle of her routine, but everyone else stepped up to the plate and stayed on, leaving the Panthers with a score of 48.425.

Chayka had a career-best 9.85 and notched first place. Croop and Vafiadou also had career highs, earning 9.775 and 9.75, respectively.

Pitt went to the floor while UNC finished on the beam, glancing over at the Panthers every once in a while with the knowledge that the score was 145.925 to 145.2 with UNC going into the final event.

The Panthers won their final event with a season-high 48.9 and took over the top three spots.

Vafiadou earned a 9.775, tying her floor career high, following teammates Moyer and Croop, who both beat previous career highs, placing first and second with a tie score of 9.875.

Vafiadou, the team’s main and often only all-around competitor this season, ended the meet with a career-best 38.975, winning the all-around competition in what was by far her greatest showing to date. She notched fourth on the beam and third on the floor in the meet.

UNC’s Christine Nguyen, the No. 1 EAGL all-around competitor, trailed her the closest with a 38.8.

Cornell and Temple failed to win any events and trailed the entire meet. Only one gymnast from Cornell managed a top-three finish. Brittany Howse notched a 9.775 on the floor.

The Big Red ended with a score of 192, and the Owls earned an overall 188.625.

North Carolina held a 13-4 record against Pitt before Saturday’s meet, and the two will meet again Saturday at the EAGL Championship in Morgantown, W. Va., at 4 p.m.

Saturday’s meet was bittersweet for Pitt as it honored two departing seniors, DeBone and Harrison.

“I’m excited to graduate but upset about leaving the program and leaving the girls,” Harrison said. “It’s an experience that I’ve had for four years.

“It’s really sad, but it was a good way to end the season,” DeBone agreed.

Both seniors plan on working full time before going on to graduate school.