WESTWOOD — Jordan Chiles scored her second 10.0 of the season in floor exercise against No. 8 Cal on Sunday. Earlier this season, she scored a 10.0 against then-No. 3 Utah.

Both perfect 10’s in floor (she had another on bars in February) came against top 10 opponents, but Chiles assured reporters that her competition doesn’t drive her scores. Only she does.

“I just try to focus on myself, kind of give myself a pep talk,” she said. “Against Utah, I didn’t even think of oh, it’s Utah. Or even now I wasn’t like, oh, it’s Cal. I just wanted to go out there and perform how I know I’m capable of performing.”

In a season that had a tumultuous start, UCLA has yet to rank within the top 10 teams, nationally. They beat Cal, 198.050-197.200, on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion, but Cal was handed their Pac-12 regular season champions banner, t-shirts and other swag on the Bruins’ bright blue floor.

UCLA paid no mind. With one meet of the regular season remaining before the Pac-12 championships, the Bruins (4-6 overall, 3-4 Pac-12) are on a high. On Sunday, they reached season-high team scores in vault, balance beam and floor exercise.

Chiles paced all competitors in floor with her 10.0 and also won uneven parallel bars with a 9.975 score en route to winning the all-around title (39.800). Chae Campbell was second in floor with a 9.975, which included a 10.0 from one of the judges, and was third all-around (39.700). Norah Flatley of UCLA edged her for second in all-around at 39.750.

The Bruins started strong with a 49.475 in vault after the first rotation, which included a first-place performance from Campbell (9.950) and second-place marks from Flatley and Chiles (9.90), but it was the balance beam that turned the momentum in UCLA’s favor.

The middle of the Bruins’ lineup struggled on uneven bars, as Emma Malabuyo had a season-low score and Ana Padurariu recorded her second-lowest score of the season. But Chiles scored a 9.975 to win the event and Flatley logged a 9.950 for second place in an attempt to close the gap, and Cal (6-2, 5-2) led, 98.650-98.600, after the second rotation.

Malabuyo recovered to earn a 10.0 from one judge in beam to win the event with a 9.975 mark. Flatley was right behind her in second at 9.950 and Chiles came in third at 9.925.

The efforts on balance beam gave the Bruins a 148.275-147.850 advantage over Cal after three rotations.

“It’s almost a feeling of sort of invincibility,” coach Chris Waller said of the team’s performance on the beam. “It’s not about competing against someone else. It’s that whatever we try to do, it’s going to satisfy us and it’s going to be great and beautiful.”

UCLA wraps up its regular season at home against UC Davis on Saturday, March 12 before competing in the Pac-12 championships in West Valley City, Utah on March 19.

Waller said that Saturday’s senior day meet will give some seniors the chance to compete at Pauley Pavilion one last time, but for others, it’ll be a strategic pause as the Bruins are seemingly hitting their stride at the right time.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Chiles said, “but a life is never perfect. … Our team has had those wrong turns in the road, but we have come to a point where we have straightened it out and now we’re just gonna keep going and fight.”

IT’S A 1⃣0⃣. AGAIN.@ChilesJordan, the floor is yours.

Pac-12 Network
https://t.co/vbYJ6kKsHN@uclagymnastics | #GoBruins | #Pac12Gym pic.twitter.com/SZ0X0X9DD9

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 6, 2022