'Turned it up a notch': No. 4 Red Rocks erase big No. 9 UCLA lead for comeback win

LOS ANGELES — The final ever regular-season conference meeting between the Red Rocks and UCLA delivered the drama again.

The afternoon meet on ESPN came down to best vs. best in the final rotation.

And in the end, the fourth-ranked Red Rocks left Pauley Pavilion with a come-from-behind win with a 197.250 score, topping No. 9 UCLA's 196.975 on alumni night in Los Angeles.

The Red Rocks trailed by 0.425 at the midway point as UCLA looked well on its way to pulling away for a big conference win in one of the most competitive matchups in Pac-12 history. The Red Rocks were down but certainly not out.

Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf said she didn't say anything to her gymnasts at the midway mark, but trusted them to just perform their gymnastics.

Makenna Smith led off with a 9.825 score on floor, setting an early tone for the comeback in what was the lowest score of the event for the visiting team. Freshman Ella Zirbes added a 9.875, and the next four gymnasts scored a 9.90 or higher — Grace McCallum topped the group with a 9.925 — to flip the deficit into a 0.200 lead going into the final rotation.

In that third rotation, UCLA failed to gain some traction and got scores no higher than a 9.825 and were forced to count three scores in the 9.7's after some missteps and troubles on dismounts. It all led to the Red Rocks striking at the right moment.

Despite not being able to see the scores throughout the meet based on their location on the floor, Dockendorf said she felt it was important to gather her gymnasts around after the third rotation to help them know that they'd taken the lead and help them going into the final event with some confidence.

"Obviously, we never want the girls to focus on scores, but I thought it was important for them to know that we had bumped ahead and we were leading going into that last rotation, because I wanted to give them a little extra confidence that we weren't trailing, didn't need to push super hard on beam," Dockendorf said. "We just need to go out and stay relaxed, and focus on doing Utah gymnastics like we know how, and that was going to be an enough."

But even with a decent lead, the two teams entered the final event — each leads the conference in their final respective event — with everything on the line. UCLA made some missteps again, though, and had two gymnasts step out of bounds on tumbling passes on floor to give Utah some room to breathe.

The Red Rocks needed a 9.875 score on beam from Maile O'Keefe in the anchor position to win the meet, even with UCLA still having Nya Reed left to go on floor.

And like clockwork, O'Keefe delivered.

The fifth-year senior performed a nearly flawless routine and stuck her landing, signaling to all in Pauley Pavilion that O'Keefe — and by extension, the Red Rocks — couldn't be denied. Even without the official judge scores, the Red Rocks knew it was a winning routine.

With a 9.975 score, O'Keefe's beam performance made the win official.

"I think it's really important for us to remember that we're capable of doing that," Dockendorf said. "And just to be here in someone else's house and to still be able to come up with a victory against a really, honestly, incredible team, I think it just speaks volumes about the strength of Utah gymnastics this year."

That strength shined through in the final two events, but the meet started anything but well outside of a leadoff 9.90 score by Smith on bars.

After Smith's great start, Alani Sabado just missed the high bar on her first trick and landed on the mats below on her stomach. Sabado eventually got back on the bars but slipped off again to score an 8.600. Amelie Morgan, who leaves for a month to England after Monday's meet, reset the momentum with a solid 9.875 score, but the Red Rocks could get no higher.

The Red Rocks finished the first event with a 49.200 with hopes of a better next event.

And though there weren't similar mistakes, the Red Rocks couldn't gain much momentum on vault and scored another 49.200 as UCLA started to pull away after strong back-to-back opening events, including a season-high 49.525 on vault that featured a 10.0 by Selena Harris.

Everything was going the Bruins' way and the Red Rocks had no answers until that third rotation.

"I think that we had a bit of a slow start on our first two events, but what I really liked was that this team never gave up, and they just fought all the way to the end," Dockendorf said. "We didn't let a score affect us and just kind of give up midway through; we just kept doing our gymnastics and we stayed focused on us, and I think we actually turned it up a notch once we got to floor and just carried over to beam."

Team scores:

No. 4 Utah

• Bars: 49.200
• Vault: 98.400 (49.200)
• Floor: 147.900 (49.500)
• Beam: 197.250 (49.350)

No. 9 UCLA

• Vault: 49.525
• Bars: 98.825 (49.300)
• Beam: 147.700 (48.875)
• Floor: 196.975 (49.275)

Red Rocks scores

1st Rotation: Bars (49.200)

• Makenna Smith: 9.900
• Alani Sabado: 8.600
• Amelie Morgan: 9.875
• Ella Zirbes: 9.800
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.775
• Grace McCallum: 9.850

2nd Rotation: Vault (49.200)

• Camie Winger: 9.800
• Ella Zirbes: 9.750
• Ashley Glynn: 9.850
• Makenna Smith: 9.825
• Jaedyn Rucker: 9.825
• Amelie Morgan: 9.900

3rd Rotation: Floor (49.500)

• Makenna Smith: 9.825
• Ella Zirbes: 9.875
• Abby Paulson: 9.900
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.900
• Grace McCallum: 9.925
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.900

4th Rotation: Beam (49.350)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.750
• Makenna Smith: 9.825
• Liz Gantner: 9.800
• Grace McCallum: 9.875
• Abby Paulson: 9.925
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.975

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