AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's STUNT dominated the second half of its rematch, sweeping all the rounds to turn a halftime tie into a 9-2 victory over Ottawa University Arizona for its second consecutive win over the Spirit.
The Spirit carried momentum from the final round of Friday night's game, when it earned two of the final three points in a loss, into the opening quarter to land the first point in Partner Stunts. St. Edward's recalibrated in the short break between rounds, taking the second round in Partner Stunts and the first in Pyramids and Tosses.
Ottawa fought back to take the second round and tie the game at the half.
"I reminded the team they won 8-5 on Friday, not 12-0. I wanted to ensure they understood it was a tight game yesterday and would be a battle today," St. Edward's Head STUNT Coach Sean Garland says. "We needed to take the next two rounds to gain some separation and make our mark on today's competition."
St. Edward's honed its athleticism with precise execution and timing in the Jumps and Tumbling third quarter, sweeping both points to recapture the momentum.
"All seven of them concentrated on executing the techniques and timing in the jumps and tumbling, which is our strength," Garland exclaims. "It's something we poured a lot of time into and they really embraced working as a collective and nailing those things."
Ottawa attempted to raise the stakes at the start of the fourth quarter, choosing a higher-level routine than either team had attempted in the previous three quarters. This forced St. Edward's to sit out the final third of the team routine in the first round.
The strategy backfired when St. Edward's swept the Partner Stunts and Jumps and Tumbling segments and Ottawa failed to capture a point in the uncontested jumps and tumbling. A fired up Hilltopper team swept the final round, taking the 9-2 victory.
"We've been practicing Level Three but don't have the Pyramid section for it, so what we do is focus on perfecting everything we can put on the floor every time we take it," Garland says. "We do have strong Partner Stunts and Tumbling at that level with a few modifications, but again, we're focusing on technique and came away with a good win."
