Utah’s gymnastics team left no questions on the table in its NCAA regional semifinal Friday.
Dubbed the underdog on paper because of their No. 12 ranking, the Red Rocks were the best team in their session and brought a swagger and confidence that carried over to each event.
Now they just need to keep that momentum going.
The 197.500 semifinal win means Utah is advancing with No. 5 Alabama (197.225) to Sunday’s regional final at 6 p.m. (MT) in Corvallis.
The Red Rocks and Crimson Tide topped No. 25 Oregon State (196.375) and No. 23 Denver (195.950) to advance.
Utah started the meet on bars, a choice it made after teams were allowed to pick which event they wanted to lead off on based on their seeding.
Alabama stuck with Olympic order and then the Red Rocks chose bars.
“We know we are really strong on bars, and obviously we know we are a great vault team, so we felt very comfortable with that rotation,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf.
The Red Rocks rank ninth nationally on bars and third on vault and were able to set a solid baseline on bars that carried over to each event throughout the meet.
The 49.35 they got on bars also gave Utah an early lead that helped set a tone that the team was going to be aggressive.
Ashley Glynn tied her season high of 9.9 with a beautiful bars routine, and Avery Neff dittoed her teammate to lead the way.
The Red Rocks matched the 49.35 score on beam, with Neff posting a 9.925 and Abbi Ryssman and Ana Padurariu adding 9.9s.
Padurariu had a great meet after falling hard off bars in the prior meet and then being pulled from beam lineup out of precaution. She didn’t look a bit rusty or rattled.
While Utah was solid, Alabama was better in the second rotation and tied things up with the Red Rocks at 98.70. The Crimson Tide’s 49.525 on bars was an event high across teams.
But the Red Rocks pulled away over the final two rotations. Their highest score came in the third rotation — floor — as they didn’t count a score below 9.85, with Sarah Krump’s leadoff getting them off to a good start.
Krump has fought her way into the floor lineup, and at times not been in it at all, but the senior shined in the big moment with her 9.85.
Neff landed atop again when the rotation was over, recording a 9.925, while Ella Zirbes and Makenna Smith tallied 9.9s and Zoe Johnson added a 9.875to help boost Utah to the 49.45 floor score.
The Red Rocks concluded the meet with another 49.35, this time on vault. Neff and Glynn were great with 9.9s, and were complemented by 9.85s from Zirbes, Johnson and Smith to round out the scoring.
Friday’s result included Utah hitting all four events, something it hadn’t been able to do this season. The team has put up several great three-event meets this year but has had some type of hiccup with a fall or lower scores to keep it from adding the fourth.
That wasn’t the case in the semifinal win.
The most notable difference though was the Red Rocks were confident, aggressive and didn’t back down. It appears Utah has put it all together and is peaking just when it needs to.
“I know I’ve said it a lot, but this team has put everything into practice, so yeah, you get to come out with a little swagger and a little confidence, and they do their best when they’re having fun, but you have to have the confidence to be able to have the fun,” Dockendorf said.
Meet highlights
It was in this same meet a season ago that Neff won her first all-around competition as a Red Rock. Since then, the sophomore has just gotten better, and Friday was no different, with Neff scoring a 9.9 or higher on every event.
Being in the first session likely means Neff won’t nab another all-around title because scores often increase in the second session, but her production continues to be a big reason Utah is on the rise.
Scores
First — Utah; 197.500.
Second — Alabama; 197.225.
Third — Oregon State; 196.375.
Fourth — Denver; 195.950.
First semifinal event winners
All-Around — Avery Neff (Utah); 39.65.
Vault — Ashley Glynn (Utah), Avery Neff (Utah), Shyla Bhatia (Denver); 9.9.
Bars — Azaraya Ra-Akbar (Alabama), Paityn Walker (Alabama), Taylor DeVries (Oregon State); 9.925.
Beam — Avery Neff (Utah); 9.925.
Floor — Avery Neff (Utah); 9.925.
Regional final
The regional final is Sunday at 6 p.m. and will feature Utah and Alabama against the top two teams from the second semifinal: No. 4 UCLA, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 19 Iowa State and Washington.