Women's Gymnastics 2/5/2011 5:00:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Thunderbirds Bounce Back to Post Victory over Utah State

CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 4 - Southern Utah University gymnastics bounced back from its first defeats of the season last weekend and overcame falls on bars during the meet to post a 194.000 to 192.125 victory over the Utah State Aggies on Friday night. The meet was the team's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Meet and was dedicated to SUU freshman Doniele Volopich's mother who passed away from the disease in 2010.

"It meant a lot to me that the team would dedicate the meet to my mom," Volopich said after the meet. "I think the team did really well and competed hard and my mom would have been very proud."

Southern Utah began on vault and posted a season-best 48.950 on the apparatus. The T-Birds swept the top five spots as Lindsey Schultz led the charge with a 9.825 to capture the individual title. She was followed by Shannon Coughlin and Brooke Cersosimo with matching 9.800's, Caitlin Kennedy with a 9.775 and Ari Lamb with a 9.750, marking a new career best.

The Aggies finished the first rotation on bars with a 47.900 and were led by eventual event champion Nicole Simoneau with a 9.825.

The Thunderbirds started well enough on the bars with a 9.775 from Lamb, but three falls on subsequent routines translated into a season-low 47.400. Utah State was able to narrow the gap after the rotation, scoring a 48.200 on vault to narrow the SUU lead 96.350 to 96.100.

However, Southern Utah bounced back to score three 9.700's or better on the balance beam with Cersosimo leading the way with a 9.825, tying a career best. The mark secured the beam title for the junior with teammate Shannon Coughlin close behind in second place with a 9.750.

Despite the higher scoring, SUU still had its trouble on beam as Utah State scored a 48.550 on the floor exercise to whittle the T-Bird lead to 144.825 to 144.650.

Southern Utah finished the night on the floor exercise and proved why it has the No. 9 floor teams in the nation as the team scored a season-high 49.175, sweeping the top six spots on the event. Cersosimo and Schultz led the way with matching 9.850's as the T-Birds scored nothing less than a 9.800. Coughlin, Alyssa Click and Lauren Jeffrey each tallied a 9.825 with Lamb's score of 9.800 not factoring into the team score at the end.

The performance gave the Thunderbirds a run away victory as Utah State finished on beam with a 47.475, making the final score 194.000 to 192.125. Lamb and Cersosimo finished first and second in the all-around with marks of 38.950 and 38.700, respectively.

"We did a great job in putting our performance on bars behind us and finishing strong tonight," head coach Scott Bauman said after the meet. "Our beam and floor teams really powered us through the end of that meet."

Southern Utah will be back in action next weekend when the Thunderbirds head back out on the road to face Cal State Fullerton.

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