Wolverines Suffer Trials and Tribulations in Win

Friday, January 12

Morgantown, W.Va.

7:30 PM

Michigan

West Virginia, James Madison

1/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team won a nailbiter in its season opener and maintained a late lead heading into the final rotation to finish with a score of 194.850 and narrowly defeat host West Virginia (194.800) and James Madison (182.475) Friday night (Jan. 12) at the WVU Coliseum.

Despite the limited availability of All-Americans junior Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and sophomore Tatjana Thuener-Rego (Miami, Fla./American School) and scratched All-American senior Carol McNamara (Hastings, Minn./Hastings), Michigan overcame its opening night jitters to move to 2-0 on the year.

Michigan led West Virginia by 0.550 points heading into the final rotation, but senior Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) was scratched from the vault lineup after an injury on the floor exercise, leaving Michigan with four athletes in the lineup who had never performed a vault during a collegiate meet. Senior Clare Flannery (Ossining, N.Y./School of the Holy Child) broke the ice, followed by four athletes -- sophomore Huneth Lor (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley), freshman Maureen Moody (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing), junior Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) and freshman Sarah Curtis (Reno, Nev./Reno) -- who performed a vault in a collegiate meet for the first time. Lor stepped up and nailed a 9.800 to lift Michigan's hopes; Kippley (9.800) and Curtis (9.750) kept Michigan's lead alive as the Mountaineers racked up big scores on floor. In the anchor position, junior Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) nailed an event-winning 9.875 in the final performance to give Michigan some breathing room. As the floor scores trickled in and Michigan's lead dwindled, the home crowd sensed an upset. But when the smoke cleared, Michigan maintained its lead winning by a slim 0.050 margin to leave Morgantown undefeated.

Kippley finished second in the all-around in her first time competing in all four events in a single meet, placing in the top five in three events.

Michigan had its best showing of the night on the uneven bars, placing four Wolverines in the top five led by event co-winners Bernard and Bruck. Thuener-Rego took 3rd with a right after Curtis scored 9.775 for 5th place.

The Wolverines had a solid showing on the balance beam in their first meet of the season, posting three scores of 9.800 or better, led by Bruck's 9.875 in the anchor position.

Michigan struggled in only one event -- the floor exercise -- but high scores from Kippley (9.850), Curtis (9.800) and Lieberman (9.750) overcame some Wolverine slipups.

The Wolverines held a lead over West Virginia heading into the final rotation with U-M headed to vault and the Mountaineers to floor. Lieberman came through with a 9.875 to share the event title, while Kippley and Lor each hit for 9.800. Lor came through in the clutch -- not only scoring a 9.800 -- but doing so in her very first collegiate attempt on the apparatus. Curtis did well in her first collegiate vault, scoring a 9.750.

Michigan will open its home season against Southern Utah on Friday (Jan. 19) at 7:30 p.m. in Crisler Arena.

Team Standings

Team Scores	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	Total
1. MICHIGAN	48.800	49.025	48.775	48.250	194.850
2. West Virginia	49.025	47.925	48.550	49.300	194.800
3. James Madison	46.675	43.700	44.075	48.025	182.475

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

VAULT Clare Flannery 9.150 Huneth Lor 9.800 (t5) Maureen Moody 9.575 Nellie Kippley 9.800 (t5) Sarah Curtis 9.750 Katie Lieberman 9.875 (t1)
 UNEVEN BARS Nellie Kippley 9.650 Jordan Sexton 9.500 Sarah Curtis 9.775 (5) Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.800 (3) Lindsey Bruck 9.900 (t1) Becky Bernard 9.900 (t1) BALANCE BEAM Jordan Sexton 9.700 Nellie Kippley 9.800 (4) Huneth Lor 9.575 Sarah Curtis 9.250 Becky Bernard 9.825 (3) Lindsey Bruck 9.875 (2) FLOOR EXERCISE Jordan Sexton 9.125 Becky Bernard 9.725 Nellie Kippley 9.850 (t3) Katie Lieberman 9.750 Sarah Curtis 9.800 Lindsey Bruck 7.325 ALL-AROUND Nellie Kippley 39.100 (2) Sarah Curtis 38.575 (3)
 ( ) denotes place in the Top 5

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Bev Plocki

On the meet ... "Aside from Lindsey's (Bruck) injury we did well. We had our first meet jitters and got over them quickly. We counted only one fall the entire whole meet and that was on floor. We have a lot of room for improvement and we're awaiting the return of some of our top gymnasts to the lineup. We won the meet but tonight was a hard pill to swallow."

On the performance on Huneth Lor ... "Huneth has been struggling on floor and vault this preseason but she is one the reasons we won tonight. She stepped up on vault when Lindsey was scratched after hitting for 9.750 in an exhibition on floor. She nailed her vault for 9.800 on vault, which was incredibly important. In her position it was incredibly important how she stepped up."

On the performance on Nellie Kippley ... "Nellie led off on bars for us in the first rotation and she was a little nervous but picked up steam and did well the rest of the way."

N O T E S

Sophomore Huneth Lor competed on vault for the first time in her collegiate career, scoring a 9.800 to share for fifth place.

Sophomore Becky Bernard performed her first collegiate floor exercise, scoring a clutch 9.725 for the Wolverines.

Junior Nellie Kippley competed in the all-around for the first time in her collegiate career, coming in second. She also performed her first collegiate vault, tying for fifth place.

Freshmen Sarah Curtis, Maureen Moody and Jordan Sexton each competed in their first collegiate meets.

Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423