No. 9 Alabama (1-3; 1-2 SEC) hasn’t fared well at road meets. Its lone win of the season came in a home meet against No. 12 Kentucky. 

Luckily for Alabama, the team will return to Coleman Coliseum Friday against the visiting No. 17 Western Michigan Broncos and the No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels. 

Although Alabama retains a losing record, it improved its season high in the second and third week of the season. The Crimson Tide did not record a season-high score in last week’s loss to Auburn, but put together the nation’s fourth-best balance beam rotation in the country. Alabama scored a 49.650, which is only behind No. 3 Utah’s 49.725 and No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Florida’s 49.700. 

In Monday’s press conference, head coach Dana Duckworth shared her excitement for her squad finding its footing on her specialty event. Duckworth is a two-time NCAA champion on the balance beam.  

“It was wonderful to see all that hard work pay off, and especially in such a boisterous environment with a lot of pressure on the line of finishing strong,” Duckworth said. “I do believe the pace that we’re setting and where we’re headed is all positive.”

Alabama is currently tied with Auburn for the fifth-best season average on the balance beam with a 49.288. Western Michigan is 13th on the balance beam with a 49.125, while North Carolina is ranked 21st with a 48.963. 

Duckworth went for it all on the vault last week, etching in six 10.0 start values into the rotation. The risk did not lead to reward in Auburn as Alabama tallied a 49.025, marking its second-lowest score of the season on the vault. 

Despite the result, Duckworth isn’t going to shy away from filling the lineup card with six 10.0 start values moving forward, which she said is the team’s goal.

“You need to do it now and get those reps under the bright lights,” Duckworth said. “We use those opportunities to help our young women figure out how to handle their adrenaline and not change what they do every day in practice when they’re under the lights.” 

The Achilles’ heel for Alabama last week was its slow start accompanied by a season-low performance on the bars and its vault performance. Junior Ella Burgess hopes for a strong heading into the tri-meet, which she said they are “more than capable” of accomplishing. 

This Friday’s meet marks the halfway point of the regular season. Alabama has posted scores north of 49.500 on the uneven bars, the balance beam and the floor exercise, but junior Mati Waligora said there’s still “way more in the tank” and looks forward to putting a complete performance together. 

“I think we just haven’t put it all together yet, but we’re ready to be aggressive and do that coming forward,” Waligora said. 

Rundown

Vault:

• Alabama — No. 14 nationally, 49.081 season average
• Western Michigan — No. 23 nationally, 48.958 season average
• North Carolina — No. 30 nationally, 48.888 season average

Uneven bars:

• Alabama — No. 7 nationally, 49.319 season average 
• Western Michigan — No. 27 nationally, 48.833 season average 
• North Carolina — No. 19 nationally, 48.963 season average

Balance beam:

• Alabama — No. 5 nationally, 49.288 season average 
• Western Michigan — No. 13 nationally, 49.125 season average 
• North Carolina — No. 21 nationally, 48.963 season average

Floor exercise:

• Alabama — No. 14 nationally, 49.206 season average 
• Western Michigan — No. 17 nationally, 49.192 season average 
• North Carolina — No. 39 nationally, 48.788 season average

Find out this Friday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum if Alabama can put together a complete performance. The meet will be televised on the SEC Network.