(St. Louis, MO) STUNT traveled to Missouri Baptist over the weekend to play out matches including three against their Mid-American NAIA Conference teams.
In Game one the 5th ranked Cards would take on 6th ranked Central Methodist. It was a neck and neck battle between the evenly matched programs. The Cards lead after the first quarter 3-2, that included a first ever point scored in Partner Stunt Routine #4. While CUAA continued to dominate in quarter #2 the Eagles of CMU pulled closer after Quarter #3 Jumps & Tumbling, and then out scored the Cardinals to end the game in a 11-10 loss for CUAA.
"We expected tough competition down here. This match was a back and forth game and our team worked hard to execute to the best of their ability. Sometimes, you just come up short. But I am proud of their work, competitiveness and the energy they showed throughout the match," said Head Coach Kate Edge.
STUNT Power Players for the game were, #7 Savana Ruffner (16), #2 Reegan Potter (15), #10 Kimberly Fox (15), #21 Paige Martin (15). Power Players are based on a system that calculates points for each athlete based on routines they compete in, the points earned for those routines, the level of the routines in which they are in, etc.
The second game in this weekend play saw the Cardinals take on #4 ranked Missouri Baptist. The ladies of STUNT could not send out that same execution level of the previous match, giving away points throughout the quarters. Missouri Baptist topped CUAA 17-3. Again, freshmen #5 Savana Ruffner lead the team as a Power Player with 5 points.
"Savana had been a big contributor to the team, she has technically clean and consistent tumbling and continues to improve and grow as a Flyer and Mid for us. Because of her skill set and stunting position she has been put into almost every routine."
Ruffner would lead the card in Power Points on day two, in the opening match up verse Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City, undefeated in the Mid-American NAIA, won 10-2. A highlight for the Cards was that they stayed under the 7 or less deduction mark for three of their three routines in Quarter 2, Jumps and Tumbling.
The Cards closed out the weekend verse #5 NCAA Division II powerhouse Maryville. While the Cardinals put out strong routines, often hitting that 7 or less deductions threshold in each routine, it was not enough to earn points. The Cardinals were shut out by Maryville 18-0.
About the Saturday matches Edge had this to day, "These two teams are some of the strongest STUNT programs in the country. While playing them puts us on our toes, you also get to watch and learn from what they put out on the mat. For our young STUNT team these types of matches are a great building block to elevating our program."
STUNT returns home on April 15th for their last games of the season. They will complete conference play verse Aquinas College and have a second match up verse Tiffin University.
To learn more about STUNT visit STUNT the sports web-site at:
https://stuntthesport.org/jh-hs-resources/overview-of-stunt/
Schedules, results, and scores for all STUNT programs can be found here:
