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Less than one week after setting the all-time NCAA Division I record for highest single-meet team total, the No. 1 ranked UCLA gymnastics team faltered at No. 15 Washington, 197.225 to 197.1.

Before a crowd of 2,161 Husky faithful, UCLA’s usually consistent bars team recorded three consecutive falls by Holly Murdock, Lori Winn and Kristen Maloney to start off the meet, two of which counted against their team total of 48.475. Strong performances from Jeanette Antolin (9.95) and Yvonne Tousek (9.925) kept the Bruins afloat, but the early struggles proved costly.

“Our warm-up didn’t go very well, but I think after bars we really settled down,” Maloney said. “We did really well on vault and floor. Other than bars, everyone hit really well, but the damage was already done.”

The Huskies were not overpowering in their first rotation either, but still held an early lead with a 48.725 on vault. The opening rotation proved to be the lowest scoring apparatus for both teams for the evening.

“We were disappointed we lost, but we were happy about how we picked it up after bars,” Maloney said.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, Washington picked it up, too. The Huskies recorded a school-record 49.650 during their rotation on bars, shattering the previous record they set two weeks ago in a win over Arizona State. Emily Pritchard led the Huskies with a 9.975, the sixth time she has won that event in the past eight meets. Pritchard is ranked No. 1 in the nation on bars this year.

UCLA hung in with a strong performance on vault, paced by Antolin, the top-ranked vault gymnast in the nation. Antolin’s routine earned her a perfect 10 and marked the fifth time this season she has received a perfect mark.

Antolin is undefeated on vault this year, having won the event in all eight meets in which she has competed. The high vault mark helped Antolin win the all-around for the fourth consecutive time with a score of 39.75.

UCLA got help from sophomore Kate Richardson and Maloney, both of whom recorded 9.95s.

UCLA’s floor routines were good enough to earn a team score of 49.475 to counter Washington’s strong beam performance of 49.425. Antolin led all competitors with a 9.95, while Maloney, Tousek and Richardson each recorded 9.9s.

Entering the final rotation, Washington held a 147.800-147.525 advantage, during which UCLA would compete on beam and the Huskies would be on floor. UCLA put up an impressive 49.575 on beam, led by Maloney’s 9.975, tied for a meet high. Richardson also had a strong performance on beam, good for a 9.95. But it wasn’t enough to overtake the Huskies, who hit all their routines to capture the dual meet. 

“It didn’t have the outcome we wanted or expected, but we take away something for every meet,” Tousek said.

“Of course, we’d like to start strong instead of having to come back.”