WACO, Texas — No. 8 Hawai'i Pacific University put together a second straight outstanding performance, but No. 1 Baylor held strong to edge HPU 273.385-269.300 in Acrobatics & Tumbling action at the Farrell Center on Saturday.
 
The Sharks (1-1) dropped five of the six events to the top-ranked Bears (2-1), but beat Baylor by three-and-a half points in the final competition, the Team event.
HPU's 269.300 score was the 13th best in A&T action this season, with BU's 273.385 ranking seventh on the season. All three of Baylor's scores rank in the top seven in 2021, with No. 2 Oregon claiming three others.
 
Baylor took the Compulsory event by just 0.50, as HPU scored 37.45 points to the Bears 37.95.
 
Baylor took the Acro event with a near perfect 29.60, scoring two 9.90s. HPU posted a 28.70, scoring a 9.85 in the 6-Element and a 9.60 in the 5-Element heat.
 
The Pyramid saw BU nearly flawless again with a 29.55 to HPU's 28.45. The Sharks Inversion Pyramid and the Open Pyramid resulted in scores of 9.80 and 9.70 respectively. The Sharks trailed 97.10-94.60 at the half.
 
The Toss event had Baylor winning 28.75-27.00.
 
The Sharks took a hit in the Tumbling event, as the Bears hit two 9.900 passes, and HPU's best was 9.450 as the Bears won 57.125-53.800.
 
But HPU stunned the top-ranked Bears in the Team event. Using a start value of 102.46, the Sharks had only 8.56 points in deductions on their way to a 93.90 score. The Bears had a start value of 107.26 and dropped 16.85 points from deductions for a 90.41 score.
 
The Bears came away with a 4.085 point win for the meet.
 
HPU wraps up their road trip and the Acrobatics and Tumbling their regular season in Belton, Texas on Thursday, April 1, when they visit Mary Hardin-Baylor. The meet is scheduled for a 1 p.m. HST start (6 p.m. CDT).