Gymnastics Gears Up For Elevate The Stage Quad Meet

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 24 North Carolina gymnastics team will head to Huntsville, Ala., for the Elevate the Stage quad meet on Sunday, March 9. The Tar Heels will face No. 14 Alabama, No. 6 Cal and No. 8 Michigan State inside Propst Arena.

First vault is slated for 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT). The meet will broadcast nationally on ACC Network with Bart Conner and Bridget Sloan on call.

Meet Info
Who: (24) Carolina vs. (14) Alabama, (6) Cal, (8) Michigan State
What: Elevate the Stage
Where: Propst Arena – Huntsville, Ala.
When: Sunday, March 9 – 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT)
Links: Live Stream

Ten Things to Know

North Carolina is ranked No. 24 this week, its seventh straight week in the top 25.
This week, the Tar Heels rank 23rd nationally on vault (49.03 NQS), 20th on bars (49.17), 19th on beam (49.11) and 34th on floor (49.045).
In the ACC, UNC ranks fourth on vault, third on bars and beam, and fifth on floor.
UNC has 18 rotations of 49.0+ this year, including six on bars. Through nine meets last year in 2024, the team had only 10 rotations of 49.0+.
The team has scored 49.0+ in at least one event for 12 straight meets dating back to 2024. That's the third longest streak in UNC history.
Julia Knower was nominated for the prestigious AAI Award. She has 191 career routines and 47 career all-around performances as of March 4. All five of her top scores rank in the top eight on UNC's all-time list.
With an NQS of 9.92 on bars, Lali Dekanoidze ranks first in the ACC, second in the Southeast Region and fourth in the country. Her average bars score is 9.906.
Five of Dekanoidze's eight bar routines this year have been 9.9+. She matched her school record 9.975 on Jan. 24. She is on a four-meet streak of winning bars.
JoJo Valahovic won four-straight ACC Newcomer of the Week awards, all in the month of February. She is the first gymnast in ACC Gymnastics history to win the honor more than two times. She is also the first UNC gymnast in program history to win multiple ACC weekly honors in the same season.
Last time out at the UNC Quad Meet on Feb. 28, Carolina set a season-high 196.675. That is the eighth highest score in program history, and the best during the Danna Durante era. The team's season-high 49.4 on bars is the third best score in school history.

Several Tar Heels rank in the ACC's top 10 based on NQS: Kaya Forbes (6th, vault, 9.835), Valahovic (8th, vault, 9.83), Dekanoidze (1st, bars, 9.92), Isabelle Schaefer (10th, bars, 9.85), Gwen Fink (4th, beam, 9.875), Valahovic (9th, beam, 9.865), Jessica Naranjo (10th, beam, 9.85) and Knower (6th, A-A, 39.21).

Stay up to date with Carolina Gymnastics by following the Tar Heels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lali Dekanoidze

Gwen Fink

Kaya Forbes

Julia Knower

Jessica Naranjo

Isabelle Schaefer

JoJo Valahovic