COSTA MESA, Calif. - The Lions (1-3) wrapped up their four-game Vanguard STUNT Tournament with matches against Concordia University-Irvine and William Jessup University. Concordia University would get the better of the Lions in the first game by a score of 12-10, but the Lions were able to earn their first victory of the season with an 18-6 win over William Jessup.
What Happened?
Game One: In the first quarter, the Lions were able to execute advanced partner stunt routines at a very high level as they got out to an early 4-2 advantage in the first quarter. The Eagles were able to tie things up in the second quarter which featured pyramids and tosses, taking the point in the first and second routine. Both teams would earn points in the third routine before Concordia would take the fourth to go up 6-5 at the half. The Eagles would take the first two points of the third quarter, forcing a timeout by Head Coach Leslie Allen. The Pride would put together two fantastic routines, earning the last two points of the quarter to draw back within one. With a total of nine points available in three categories, the Lions would earn two points in the partner stunts category while Concordia would earn two points on jumps and tumbles and one point on pyramids to earn a 12-10 win.
Game Two: In game two, the Lions would sweep the first quarter which consisted of four rounds of partner stunts to take a 4-0 lead. In the second quarter, Vanguard would take round one and round two before splitting round three with the Warriors. The Lions would earn the point in the final routine to take an 8-1 lead into the half. The Warriors would earn two points in the first two routines of the third quarter, but the Blue and Gold would match their mark with two points of their own to establish a seven-point edge over William Jessup. In the fourth quarter, the Pride would earn two out of the three available points for partner stunts and went three for three in points available for jumps + tumbling and pyramids to earn their first victory of the year by a count of 18-6.
Why It's Important? The Lions would snap a three-game losing streak with their win over the Warriors. Their 18 points scored in the second game would tie the second-highest mark in program history. Vanguard is 20-22 in program history.
How It's Scored: A STUNT match has four quarters. The first three periods all feature four routines with the final fourth-quarter containing only three routines. Quarter 1 is partner stunts, Quarter 2 is pyramids, Quarter 3 jumps and tumbling, and Quarter 4 is team routine where the previous three quarters are combined. Routines in the first three frames are worth one point each whereas, in the fourth quarter, teams can earn up to three total points. There are seven levels of routines a team can perform ranging from beginner (1) to advanced (7), with each step becoming slightly more challenging.
What They Said: Brenna Higdon (FR/Sacramento, CA) - "Today we wanted to go out and put our best on the mat and just have really nice technique and keep up our encouragement. And it was probably the best game we've played this season. We encouraged each other and kept up the energy and did really well."
What's Next: Wednesday, March 10th against Concordia University Irvine
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