FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Kutztown University acrobatics & tumbling opened its 2026 season on the road against sixth-ranked and defending Mountain East Conference champion Fairmont State on Sunday afternoon. The Falcons pulled away in the second half for a 266.755-218.055 victory at Joe Retton Arena.

The Maroon and Gold came out with some solid performances under first-year head coach Kaitlyn Miller in the first half against one of the nation's elite teams.

Kutztown (0-1, 0-1 MEC) scored 9.40 out of 10 in the pyramid heat of the compulsory event and a 9.30 out of 10 in the 7-element heat of the acro event before turning in its highest heat score of the day with a 9.45 out of 10 in the synchronized heat of the pyramid event. Contributing to the pyramid synchronized score were Sienna Barbarisi (New Providence, N.J./New Providence), Gianna Costanzo (Lovettsville, Va./Woodgrove), Hannah Fortuna (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park), Evyn Heberlig (Newburg, Pa./Shippensburg), Emma Highley (Breinigsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh), Sydney Jundt (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester), Cecilia Marshall (Bellingham, Mass./Home Schooled), Jordyn Osner (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown), Alexia Vecchiolli (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), Natalie Watson (Budd Lake, N.J./Mount Olive), Sydney Watts (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) and Julia Yeager (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg).

Despite the strong scores in those heats, Fairmont State proved tough to keep pace with. The Falcons (3-0, 3-0 MEC) scored 9.50 or better in 8-of-10 first half heats to take a 94.000-84.250 lead at the break.

The hosts extended their lead after the half in the toss, tumbling and team events.

In the tumbling 6-element pass, KU got a 9.050 score from Vecchiolli.

Kutztown travels to Glenville State next Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m., for a Mountain East Conference tri-meet against the host Pioneers and West Virginia State.