ASU gymnastics picked up two wins over the past week, and ASU soccer captured an upset win over USC Friday in a successful week for two of the University's Olympic sports.
Gymnastics
ASU gymnastics picked up two wins this past week, scoring above 197 points in each meet to defeat UA and Washington.
ASU defeated UA 197.450 to 194.750 on Wednesday, the second time the Sun Devils scored above 197 points in a meet this season.
Head coach Jay Santos called ASU's performance against UA "the most complete meet we've had all year." The Sun Devils outscored the Wildcats in all four events.
“It’s definitely a really huge confidence booster for us,” freshman Emily White said in a press conference Wednesday.
The Sun Devils started out strong on the vault, scoring a 49.325. Sophomore Jordyn Jaslow made her season debut in the event and scored a 9.800.
ASU scored a 49.400 on bars, led by White’s meet and team-leading 9.925.
Junior Jasmine Gutierrez made her season debut on beam, scoring a 9.850. White's 9.900 on beam helped ASU secure a score of 49.350 in the event. The Sun Devils ended the day scoring a 49.375 on floor exercise and securing the highest total score in any meet this season.
ASU continued its winning ways on Sunday by defeating Washington 197.050 to 193.575 in Seattle.
The Sun Devils scored 49.325 on bars, with freshman Sarah Clark scoring a 9.925 and senior Cairo Leonard-Baker scoring a 9.900.
ASU scored a 49.200 on vault, with five gymnasts scoring a 9.800 or above.
The Sun Devils posted a 49.375 on the floor exercise, led by Leonard-Baker’s 9.925 and sophomore Juliette Boyer's 9.900.
In the final event of the day, the Sun Devils clinched their third total score above 197.000 this season after scoring 49.150 on beam.
ASU's next meet will be against UA on March 6 at 4 p.m. MST in Tempe.
Soccer
After not winning a Pac-12 game last season, ASU upset USC 1-0 in Tempe on Friday to improve to 5-0-0 and start Pac-12 play with a victory. It was the Sun Devils' first conference victory since Oct. 28, 2018.
The lone goal of the game came early, with junior forward Nicole Douglas scoring her sixth goal of the season in the 13th minute.
USC had no issue generating offense, recording 15 shots and seven corner kicks. Only two of those shots were on goal, however, and they were both saved by sophomore goalkeeper Giulia Cascapera. ASU's only shot on goal for the game was Douglas' goal.
After the game, head coach Graham Winkworth made it clear he understood the importance of Friday's win. He said to Sun Devil Athletics that it was his biggest win at ASU and referred to it as "a big monkey off everyone's back."
ASU will host Washington State next on March 5 at 7 p.m. MST in Tempe.
Reach the reporters at njpietrz@asu.edu and dmwilhe1@asu.edu, and follow @NPietrzycki and @dmwilhelm225 on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.
