After spending almost a year without competition, the East Texas Baptist University acrobatics and tumbling team will finally get their 2021 season started. They open up their season on the road in Glendale, Ariz., facing Arizona Christian University. This will be the first time these two programs have competed against each other as both are newer programs.

Last season, the Tigers competed in two matches before COVID-19 struck. ETBU started with 209.97 points against Mary Hardin-Baylor and then put up a program best 236.035 points against Concordia-Wisconsin.

ETBU will take a squad of 25 members, which will include 13 returners from grad student Emily Buffington, seniors Madisen Bauwens, Anna Gaddis, Claire Rizzo, Sarah Stanford, and Hailey Strole, juniors Rani Bentley and Hannah Hicks, and sophomores Logan Angelle, Kennedy Brady, Haylee Gentry, Berkley McDonald, Harleigh Prather, and Erin Wherry. Joining the team are 12 newcomers in Brooklyn Ballard, Mattie Cassels, Macie Goff, Josephine Hamstard, Mary Kalafatis, Hailee Luxton, Marlee Madden, Haylee Martinez, Zoe Munden, Courtney Muniz and Addison Prather.

Even through the adversity that was brought on to the team from COVID-19 to a late start to the season due to inclement weather, head coach Farrah Dunaway is pleased to know her team is set to get going. "We are just so thankful that we have a season," said Coach Dunaway. "If it meant we were postponing our season for one more week, so be it. That means we get to have a season. It actually just gave us another week to mentally prepare for what we're going to do. It's great that we get to go to Arizona and open away."
 
The meet vs. Arizona Christian will start at 8:00 p.m. central time.