KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Kutztown University acrobatics & tumbling made program history Saturday at Keystone Arena, using its best-ever performance in the team event to knock off 15th-ranked West Liberty 249.280-246.050.
 
The Golden Bears performed well all meet long with season-high scores in the acro, toss, tumbling and team events, along with nine season-best heat scores. But it came down to the final event for Kutztown (3-3) to claim the signature win head coach Karah Paull has been looking for since the program's inaugural meet last February.
 
Kutztown trailed 163.100-160.900 heading into the team event, but the hosts turned in an 88.380 to West Liberty's (3-5) 82.950, which made all the difference in the end.
 
The Bears came out strong in the compulsory event with a 9.50 in the pyramid heat and a 9.10 in the toss heat to trail the Hilltoppers by just over a point heading into acro.
 
A strong 8.70 in the 6-element heat and 9.00 in the 7-element heat kept the Golden Bears within reach of WLU, even those the visitors added nearly two points to their advantage.
 
Kutztown was excellent in the pyramid with scores over 9.00 in all three heats, including a program-best 9.50 in the inversion heat and a 9.85 in the open heat. Both scores bested those of the Hilltoppers as KU ceded just half a tenth of a point heading into halftime.
 
The Golden Bears showed they were ready for the moment from there on out. They won the toss event with season-best scores in the synchronized (7.85) and open (8.65) heats and went on to take the tumbling event with their best score in program history.
 
In the tumbling event, Destiny Satterlee (Shenandoah Junction, W.Va./Jefferson) scored a 9.00 in the open pass, Paige Saxey (Clearfield, Utah/Clearfield) put forth an 8.925 in the aerial pass and Tiffani Lincoln (Oneonta, N.Y./Oneonta) registered an 8.825 in the 6-element pass.
 
Kutztown has faced high level competition since stepping onto the mat for the first time in 2022, including four matches against opponents ranked in the top five of the NCATA national poll. Saturday marked KU's first win over a ranked opponent in five tries.
 
The Golden Bears will close out the regular season Thursday, April 6, at 6 p.m., with their first home tri-meet against Caldwell and East Stroudsburg.