In the second meeting between rivals Sacramento State and UC Davis, the Hornets came out on top during gymnastics’ Causeway Cup, 194.925-194.800, to secure the first win and the highest score for the women this season.

Freshman Lauren Rice had an outstanding performance as she recorded the highest marks for the Hornets on both bars and vault, with scores of 9.850 and 9.750. Rice also had a career-high finish on the all-around, posting a score of 39.050 and claiming first place.

Sac State’s coach Kim Hughes said Rice has been a great addition to the lineup because of the dependability she has displayed during the past four meets.

“Lauren Rice has been so consistent, it’s been wonderful to see her progress each week,” Hughes said. “To see her scores improve every week has just been tremendous. She’s been a great athlete to work with.”

The freshman said she felt confident in tonight’s meet and was thrilled to beat UC Davis at home.

“The vibes were high, everyone was super rowdy in the crowd, so it was a lot of fun,” Rice said. “Moving forward I have been getting a lot better since my workouts have been getting a lot better.”

During the third rotation for UC Davis, the team had a mishap and was given a one-tenth point deduction for having the incorrect lineup during their floor portion of the meet.

Hughes said this sort of situation is a rare occurrence in meets, but the women still would have won the meet regardless of UCD’s loss of points.

“It’s just one of those things that happens sometimes,” Hughes said. “It’s upsetting for that to happen [to UC Davis], but we would’ve beat them anyway by a quarter of a tenth.”

Hughes also gave credit to the Aggies for being tough competitors even though they were down three gymnasts who were suspended for disciplinary reasons.

Senior Kalliah McCartney –– who has been battling a foot injury –– returned to the all-around after only participating in two events in their last meet. She finished with a 38.950 and posted the highest score on beam at 9.775.

Fellow senior Kayla Wonderly had a slip on beam as she was the first one up for Sac State on the third rotation, but the women were able to recover and had her 9.200 score thrown out. McCartney who was the last Hornet to compete on beam said she didn’t feel any added pressure after knowing she couldn’t make a mistake.

“If you think about it too much it’s going to psych you out,” McCartney said. “I just tried to focus on my routine, and I usually keep it under control for the most part.”

McCartney said she was able to mentally push through beam and vault with the help of her teammates supporting her.

“I was feeling pretty good, but a little apprehensive because my foot still hurts,” McCartney said about her injury. “I just had to fight through the pain and trust my training. Unfortunately vault was a little bit of a struggle with a hurt foot to get down.”

The Aggies were able to pull ahead after that part of the meet as they scored a 48.625 on floor, while the Hornets recorded a 48.475 on beam.

In the last leg of the competition, the women were able to regain the lead as they finished with their highest mark on floor at 49.125. Freshman Annie Juarez was successful for the Hornets on floor as she recorded a 9.875, which gave her a first place finish in that category.

The women began the meet on vault, where they averaged their lowest combined score of the night at 48.400. Then followed up with their second highest score on bars with 48.925.

Hughes said this was an important showing moving forward in the season and the team was positive about the results of the meet after being defeated by the Aggies last season in Davis.

“Any time we meet Davis it’s an exciting opportunity. We knew there was going to be a lot of energy and a lot of tension, and they handled it well,” Hughes said. “I’m really proud of their performance, any time you beat the Aggies it’s a good win.”

Next up, gymnastics will travel North to compete against Oregon State and the University of Washington in Corvallis, Oregon on Jan. 30.