Cal in Postseason: Rugby visits SMC on Saturday in D1A quarterfinals

Women's Gymnastics' historic season ended in the NCAA semifinal; Men's Gymnastics to compete at NCAA Championships Friday/Saturday

As Cal fans, we are arguably mentally tougher than “fans” of other schools because we are used to the heartbreaks. Just this past weekend, for every exciting win like No.9 Cal BeachVolleyball defeating host No.10 Stanford 3-2 via a 3rd-set on court 1 (see the final point in this tweet), you have Cal Baseball losing two games to No.9 Stanford by grounding into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded and down by just a run in the bottom of the 9th on Friday and then giving up a three-run homer when the Bears were just one strike away from a win on Sunday (Saturday was not any better).

Cal Men’s Water Polo winning the 2022 NCAA Championship last December with an exciting late comeback was an emotional high. Thursday’s unexpected late mistakes sinking Cal Women’s Gymnastics’ bid for a first NCAA “Four on the Floor” was the opposite.

For whatever reason, the first NCAA semifinal session was plagued by major mistakes. With apologies to the Denver Pioneers, it was really a three-team race between Cal, LSU, and Florida for two NCAA championship berths. With 6 judges rather than 4 at the regionals, every routine was scrutinized and significantly lower scores were awarded across the board. Through the first two rotations, Cal held a small lead by hitting all of their routines with more solid (9.8s) rather than great (9.9s) scores. Both Florida and LSU had falls, but were able to avoid disasters by having a second fall in those rotations; instead, they just had to count some mediocre scores in the 9.6s and 9.7s.

With the halftime lead, Cal was going to their two strongest rotations: uneven bars and balance beam. Things were looking quite promising for Cal Bears to advance. For the uneven bars, several Golden Bears were popular picks to possibly pick up an NCAA title. Unfortunately, maybe it was that chase for perfection that resulted in the major mistakes. Gabby Perea, my pick to win the NCAA bars title in my preview, fell on her attempt at the Van Leeuwen (a very impressive-looking transition between the two bars). While Andi Li (team-high 9.9) and Maddie Williams both hit their routines, Ella Cesario had a fall and Cal would have to count her 9.2625. Cal Bears would still be dancing if their low score here was in the 9.7.

A season-low score of 196.9125 came at the worst time for the California Golden Bears. LSU and Florida both advanced with manageable team scores of 197.475 and 197.400, respectively. It turned out that NCAA semifinal II had all the higher scores and all the individual winners. Oklahoma and Utah will join LSU and Florida in Saturday's championship session (ABC, 1 PM PT).

Individually, Cal got two 9.9375's on floor in their first rotation (a solid 49.4125) from sophomore Mya Lauzon and freshman eMjae Frazier, both making their NCAA Championships debut. Cal then hit on all of their vaults (49.3500) with a team-high 9.900 from Lauzon. After the debacle that was bars (48.7125), Cal bounced back with a solid beam rotation (49.4125) led by Lauzon once again with a 9.9375 and Maddie Williams with a 9.925.

Senior Nevaeh DeSouza capped her great collegiate career with a consistent performance (9.8375+) across all four apparatuses for an all-around score of 39.425. The rest of the Cal squad can build on this meet to be even stronger in 2024. eMjae Frazier (AA score of 39.4625), Andi Li (AA score of 39.4500), and Maddie Williams (AA score of 39.5125) all had good but not great meets by the lofty standard set this season.

Even though nothing is certain in sports (and that's why we love it), it feels inevitable that Cal Bears will make that NCAA Women's Gymnastics final session in the near future.

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Gymnastics is one of the rare sports where the women outshine the men. NCAA Men's Gymnastics is also taking place this weekend from the home of Penn State (all events are streamed online with no TV showcase). No.10 Cal (NQS of 390.550) will face host No.6 Penn State (NQS of 406.413), No.2 Oklahoma (NQS of 413.538), No.3 Michigan (NQS of 409.850), No.7 Ohio State (NQS of 404.1500), and No.11 Springfield (NQS of 388.238) in one semifinal today at 4 PM PT. The top-three teams and the top-three additional event finishers will advance to the championship final session on Saturday at 3 PM PT.

Unlike the score for women's gymnastics, men's gymnastics rewards more points for harder skills. It is nearly impossible for Cal to post a team score much higher than around 400 (the season-high is 399.350) unless everyone in the lineup is debuting and hitting on new skills. Bears have had some injuries this year and will send a squad with three true freshmen. Like the last few years, I do think Cal will have individuals advancing to Saturday's final session.

Live Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2023/04/14

https://twitter.com/CalMGym/status/1646890125291298816

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Last but not least, Cal Rugby will continue their postseason play on Saturday at 1 PM PT in the nearby Moraga. The D1A Rugby 15s quarterfinal will see a rematch between Cal and St. Mary's College. SMC ended Cal's season in the semifinal last year before losing to Army in the championship final. Several weeks ago, SMC edged Cal 38-34 in a match that was relocated from Moraga to Berkeley due to rain.

Cal defeated Cal Poly 82-15 in their first-round match last Saturday. Although a close contest after the first 20 minutes, Golden Bears used several consecutive tries to blow the game open before the half. I am not sure one can infer too much from this expected result.

Across the country, the expected final 8 teams will compete this weekend. In a season with a lot of parity, anyone out of Cal, SMC, BYU, Central Washington (in the west), and undefeated Navy, Life, Lindenwood, and Army (in the east) may emerge as champion in the end. The winner between Cal and SMC will either travel to Central Washington (West's top seed) or host BYU (West's 4th seed) depending on who wins that quarterfinal.

Cal’s quarterfinal match will be streamed for free on the online The Rugby Network.

https://twitter.com/CalVarsityRugby/status/1646909070027411457

GO BEARS!