- Avery Neff scored a perfect 10 on vault helping Red Rocks win.
- The team achieved their second-highest score of the season with 197.425.
- Coach Dockendorf praised Neff's consistency and the team's resilience amid challenges.
SALT LAKE CITY — She did it again.
For the third time this season, sophomore gymnast Avery Neff was perfect on an event.
As the team's anchor in the vault lineup Friday night at home against in-state opponent Southern Utah, Neff was determined to keep the momentum going after a strong star for the vault team, capped off by Ashley Glynn's perfect stick and 9.950 score just before her.
It was also a little bit of "revenge" after Neff "messed up my run" on vault the week prior.
And when Neff hit the perfect stick, the Huntsman Center crowd exploded in cheers, once again knowing what the judges were going to turn around seconds later. In some ways it's become so commonplace for Neff anymore, but she's become the consistent force the Red Rocks need to continue to build in the program's pursuit for a national championship.
"I mean, it's so important," head coach Carly Dockendorf said of Neff's consistency and ability to score 10's. "To be able to compete with the best, you absolutely have to have some people that can do that, and that's what makes it exciting.
"Our fans come here to watch everybody, but they're all hoping someone gets a 10," she added. "I mean, that's the most exciting moment in the Huntsman when those two 10's get flashed. So I think that it is just so crucial to be able to have some big scores on your team."
Neff's third career 10.0 capped off another high score on vault (49.550) for the Red Rocks this season, and helped set the tone for the night in what looked to be another meet on pace for a 198 score.
The Red Rocks followed up vault with a 49.625 on uneven bars behind four scores 9.925 or higher, but were forced to count a fall on beam in a setback in the third rotation to limit the ceiling of the night.
The gymnasts bounced back on floor with a season-high 49.575 en route to 197.425 night, which is the school's second-high score of the season. The visiting Flippin' Birds finished with a 195.825 score.
Though another strong showing for the Red Rocks, Dockendorf said her team got a little ahead of itself after getting to the midway point of the meet with a 99.175 score — a high score that would require a 49.425 on each of the final two events to top the 198 mark for the second week in a row.
It was a mark the team could easily obtain if everything continued.
"We came out swinging on that first event. We carried that momentum to bars," Dockendorf said. "And I think we just got a little ahead of ourselves. We saw the score, and then the excitement set in. Instead of just trusting our gymnastics, we started to press a little bit too hard and tried to get big scores instead of just doing the routines we know how to do."
After Elizabeth Gantner led off the team with a 9.875, senior Makenna Smith hopped off the beam in the second spot following the completion of her acro series. Freshman Abbi Ryssman got the team back on track, though, with a career-high 9.950 before Ana Padurariu (9.80) and Neff (9.825) kept the team on pace to drop Smith's score.
But in the anchor, Camie Winger fell off the beam as part of her triple series, leaving the Red Rocks to count a fall and put a damper on what could have been another 198 score.
The imperfect night, though, was a reason for optimism in Neff's eyes.
"I think that's just fuel to our fire," Neff said. "We don't have to be perfect to do amazing gymnastics. Our vault rotation wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for us, and it's good enough to get those amazing scores. Even our floor, it wasn't perfect, but it's good enough to get good scores. And I think that's just a testament of our confidence, like flourishing as a team, and just our faith together as a team that we are good enough to be here."
It's a team who has come together after a few rocky weeks and is now building to its best gymnastics of the season.
"I think we're at a really good point," said Ella Zirbes, who had a 9.925 on bars and floor. "Definitely still room for improvement, which is good. We don't want to be at our peak yet, but I think we've been building — not even just our gymnastics but how we're serving each other and taking care of each other. So it's definitely gotten better, but obviously there's still some more work to do."
Coaching update
For two consecutive weeks, assistant coach Jimmy Pratt has been absent from the meets, with Dockendorf saying last week that she had "nothing to share with the group."
On Friday, Dockendorf provided an update on Pratt:
"I'm really proud of this team," she said. "We've had to deal with some adversity over the last week. Obviously, Jimmy Pratt has been missing from competition, and he's had to step aside to take care of some personal stuff. So that has definitely challenged our team to come together and work a little bit differently over on that event."
Team scores
No. 13 Utah
- Vault: 49.550
- Bars: 99.175 (49.625)
- Beam: 147.850 (48.675)
- Floor: 197.425 (49.575)
Southern Utah
- Bars: 48.375
- Vault: 49.025 (97.400)
- Floor: 146.725 (49.325)
- Beam: 195.825 (49.100)
Red Rocks scores
1st rotation: Vault (49.550)
- Camie Winger: 9.875
- Ella Zirbes: 9.850
- Zoe Johnson: 9.850
- Makenna Smith: 9.875
- Ashley Glynn: 9.950
- Avery Neff: 10.0
2nd rotation: Bars (49.625)
- Makenna Smith: 9.875
- Clara Raposo: 9.925
- Abbi Ryssman: 9.875
- Ella Zirbes: 9.925
- Ana Padurariu: 9.950
- Avery Neff: 9.950
3rd rotation: Beam (48.675)
- Elizabeth Gantner: 9.875
- Makenna Smith: 9.225
- Abbi Ryssman: 9.950
- Ana Padurariu: 9.800
- Avery Neff: 9.825
- Camie Winger: 9.100
4th rotation: Floor (49.575)
- Ashley Glynn: 9.750
- Zoe Johnson: 9.875
- Avery Neff: 9.925
- Ella Zirbes: 9.925
- Makenna Smith: 9.950
- Sage Curtis: 9.900
