No. 16 Cyclones Fall To No. 1 Sooners

NORMAN, Oklahoma – No. 16 Iowa State (3-3, 1-1 Big 12) fell to No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Cyclones posted a 195.000, but were bested by a 197.600 from the Sooners.

The Cyclones day was highlighted with a record day on bars. The score of 49.325 is a top-10 mark in school history, with superb performances from Jade Vella-Wright and Natalia Ros Vaquer. Vella-Wright's 9.900 is the first by a freshman since Hilary Green in 2015, while Ros Vaquer went 9.925 for the second-straight meet.

Andrea Maldonado won floor with a 9.875 on the apparatus, collecting her third event win of the year.

"Overall I look it at like we had a golden opportunity that we missed," head coach Jay Ronayne said. "I know we are not always going to be as perfect as I expect, but there were lessons that were learned."

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones started the meet with a bang, posting a 49.325, the highest bars score since 2011 and tied for ninth in ISU history. The last two members of the bars squad posted 9.900s or higher, with Jade Vella-Wright scoring a 9.900 and Natalia Ros Vaquer posting a 9.925. Ros Vaquer joined elite company by becoming the first Cyclone to score a 9.925 or better in back-to-back meets since Sissy Huey in March 2002. The Cyclones also got a career-high 9.875 from Casandra Diaz, with scores of 9.825 from Madelyn Langkamp and 9.800 by Laura Burns and Laura Cooke rounding out Iowa State's scorers.

Junior Natalia Ros Vaquer
"I feel like everything is confidence. I felt kind of stressed and I was not feeling confident during this week, but all my teammates had my back. They believed in me. It made me feel like whatever happened; I was going to be fine."

Floor Exercise
Led by a 9.875 from Andrea Maldonado, the Cyclones score a 49.075 on floor. Maldonado won the floor apparatus outright with her score. The Cyclones also got quality outings from Laura Burns and Maddie Diab, each going 9.825. Casandra Diaz earned a 9.800, while Madelyn Langkamp posted a 9.750.

Junior Andrea Maldonado on competing in the last position
"I was confused by the order, so it took me by surprise, but it felt nice. I still had my team's back and I was going to do my best for them. I thought it was going to be stressful, but it wasn't. I had a lot of fun."

Vault
Iowa State could not find a big score on vault, with all six scores coming between 9.750 and 9.800 to score a 48.900 on the apparatus. Ana Palacios increased her career-best score with a 9.800, matched by Phoebe Turner. Sydney Converse and Sophia Steinmeyer both scored 9.775s, and Makayla Maxwell and Kelsey Boychuk each posted 9.750s.

Head Coach Jay Ronayne
"We were hoping to upgrade two vaults today, but we had to back off a little bit. It disrupted the flow of things. We could have responded better to that situation."

Balance Beam
The Cyclones had to score a pair of falls in the beam lineup to score a season-low 47.700. Sydney Converse was solid as usual with a 9.875, with Meixi Semple close behind at 9.825. Sophia Steinmeyer chipped in with a 9.775.

Up Next
The Cyclones will continue the road trip with a visit to Texas Woman's University on Sunday. That meet is set to kick off at 2 p.m. in Denton, Texas.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Boychuk

Laura Burns

Sydney Converse

Laura Cooke

Maddie Diab

Casandra Diaz

Hilary Green

Madelyn Langkamp

Andrea Maldonado

Makayla Maxwell

Ana Palacios

Natalia Ros Vaquer

Meixi Semple

Sophia Steinmeyer

Phoebe Turner

Jade Vella-Wright

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