After sustaining a foot injury on her balance beam routine during a quad meet on Feb. 27 against Maryland, Ohio State and Iowa, Katelyn Rosen was sidelined for the rest of the competition. With the Big Ten title on the line, Bruins coach Janelle McDonald trusted one of the youngest athletes on her roster.

Freshman Nola Matthews was slotted into the floor rotation to replace the injured gymnast.

Matthews took over the leadoff position, but it did not faze her. She was ready to help UCLA secure its second consecutive regular-season Big Ten title.

“Nola had an opportunity to go out [and compete the weekend before] on floor, so I think that really prepared her to feel ready for that,” McDonald said after the win.

Throughout their undefeated Big Ten season, the Bruins’ freshmen have established themselves as a cornerstone of the team. Ashlee Sullivan and Tiana Sumanasekera have each earned three Big Ten freshman of the week awards.

Matthews is averaging a 9.860 on bars and a 9.750 on floor. Jordis Eichman has made the most of her limited opportunities, averaging 9.805 on the balance beam and 9.750 on vault.

“The freshmen are contributing a lot for us,” McDonald said.

Before competing in NCAA competition, they had already competed on the elite stage, the highest level of competitive gymnastics that includes the Olympics.

When associate head coach BJ Das approached Matthews to tell her to be ready, the freshman stepped up without hesitation, a skill she worked on during elite competition.

“She’s the type of athlete that has to work to get some skills and to keep them,” said Cleo Washington, who coached Matthews’ elite team, Airborne. “That’s what I like about her, she understands hard work, she understands the grind, and she’s not afraid of that.”

When Washington first met Matthews, she was self-deprecating. Rather than defining herself by her accomplishments, she focused on her mistakes.

As her gymnastics improved, so did her self value, which has helped develop her into an athlete UCLA can trust in big moments.

UCLA freshman Nola Matthews gets height on her dismount from the balance beam during a meet against Nebraska at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“[She’s] extremely hardworking, has gotten a lot of resilience out of this sport, a lot of grit,” Washington said. “She’s one of the toughest athletes I’ve ever coached.”

Following Matthews on floor during the Bruins’ big quad meet was Sumanasekera, who posted 9.875, adding to her fifth place all-around performance.

Since Week 2 of the season, Sumanasekera has competed in every event. She has finished second in the all-around behind teammate Jordan Chiles three times. Sumanasekera is the highest nationally ranked freshmen at No. 22, with a National Qualifying Score of 39.375.

In elite competition, Sumanasekera and Eichman were teammates. Their coach at World Champions, Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, knew they would both have immediate success at the college level from the moment she started coaching them.

“You’re only able to be successful and healthy if you’re doing everything you can in the gym and outside the gym,” she said. “[They] learned how to manage their time and their recovery and their training.”

Canqueteau-Landi misses coaching them, but she is excited to see them succeed.

UCLA gymnast Tiana Sumanasekera competes on the beam during the Big Fours meet held at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 27.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

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“They’re always willing to do more and they also have a really good sense of humor, it’s always easier to work with athletes that want to laugh and don’t take themselves too seriously,” she said.

Canqueteau-Landi is the head coach at the University of Georgia and there is a chance she could reunite with her former athletes during the national championships if both teams advance.

“You want the student athletes to succeed because we all know how hard it is to be one,” she said. “But when it’s your former athlete, you want more for them.”

Following Sumanasekera in the floor exercise was Sullivan, whose performance earned her a 9.900, her second-highest mark in that event.

Throughout the season, she’s consistently participated on the vault, uneven bars and the floor exercise, averaging above 9.850 in all three of the events. She’s competed in the all-around twice, earning a season high of 39.325 against Stanford in March.

During their final meet of the regular season, Sullivan earned event specialist of the week honors after winning vault with a 9.975 and earning two 9.900s during the Bruins’ victory over Utah.

While training with coach Marnie Futch at Metroplex Gymnastics, Sullivan tested herself to see what she was capable of.

“I think she even surprised herself with how much she was able to accomplish last season in the elite world,” Futch added.

After clinching the Big Ten regular-season title, UCLA will compete in the Big Ten championship meet Saturday, where the freshmen class will show its skills for the first time at the college postseason level.

Harvard-Westlake doesn’t drop too many series in baseball these days, but if there’s one coach who gives the Wolverines fits, it’s Randy Thompson of Bishop Alemany. The reminder happened years ago when Harvard-Westlake had three future first-round draft picks on the same team in Max Fried, Lucas Giolito and Jack Flaherty, and Alemany defeated that powerful Wolverines team with Giolito on the mound.

On Friday, Alemany (8-3, 4-1 Mission League) completed a week in which it took two of three games from the Wolverines with a 10-4 victory. Apparently success against Harvard-Westlake isn’t just limited to the head coach. Thompson’s son, Brody, hit two home runs and a double and finished with three RBIs. Also hitting two home runs was Chase Stevenson, who had three hits and two RBIs.

Alemany had 16 hits on the day.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5, Chaminade 4: The Knights (10-0) stayed unbeaten, with Dru Wilson’s RBI single in the sixth breaking a 4-4 tie. Malakye Matsumoto had three hits and three RBIs, including a home run. Lachlan Clark threw four innings of scoreless relief with seven strikeouts and no walks. Andrew Chute had a home run and three RBIs for Chaminade.

Loyola 5, St. Francis 4: Freshman Anthony Adame closed out the win with two innings of stellar relief and three strikeouts in the eight-inning contest. Austin Junk drove in the winning run with a double.

Sierra Canyon 19, Crespi 2: Charlie Cummings had two doubles, a single and three RBIs for Sierra Canyon.

Royal 6, Simi Valley 2: Dustin Dunwoody struck out 16 in six innings for Royal.

Hart 15, Valencia 14: The Hawks survived a four-run rally by Valencia in the seventh to win a wild Foothill League game. Justin Gaisford had a home run and five RBIs for Valencia. Hart received four hits and three RBIs for Matix Frithsmith. Josh Whitson had three hits and four RBIs and Hayden Rhodes hit a three-run home run. The two teams combined for 49 runs and 11 errors in two games. Another game ended in a 10-10 tie.

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 3: RJ De La Rosa and Jackson Sellz each had two RBIs to help El Camino Real stay unbeaten in the West Valley League.

Birmingham 8, Granada Hills 2: Carlos Acuna struck out five in six innings, Aidan Martinez struck out three in one inning of relief and Julius Monroe-Truitt had three RBIs for Birmingham.

Cleveland 3, Taft 2: Ezra Preis had two hits and two RBIs for the Cavaliers.

Bell 17, Huntington Park 1: Daniel Garcia had two triples and three RBIs for 12-1 Bell.

Carson 6, Banning 4: The Colts took control of the Marine League race this week. Skylar Vinson had two hits.

St. John Bosco 13, JSerra 0: For the fifth time in seven games, St. John Bosco (7-0), ranked No. 1 by The Times, recorded a shutout. Jack Champlin started and gave up one hit in five innings. Jhett Ohira had three hits and three RBIs. Ohira was seven for 12 in the Braves’ three-game sweep of JSerra.

Corona del Mar 8, Newport Harbor 1: Stevie Jones gave up one run in 6⅔ innings and Ryan Williams and Grant Horsley each had two hits.

La Canada 6, San Marino 0: Joe Bell threw a five-hit shutout and had two hits and three RBIs.

El Dorado 4, Villa Park 2: Brady Abner had the tying triple and Xavi Cadena hit the winning home run.

Corona 19, King 7: Anthony Murphy had a home run, a double and two singles. He also struck out three batters in his one inning of relief. Trey Ebel added two hits and three RBIs.

Norco 7, Corona Centennial 4: Dylan Seward and Jordan Ayala hit home runs for Norco.

Corona Santiago 9, Eastvale Roosevelt 1: Striker Pence hit a two-run home run and Joshua Angulo had two hits and three RBIs for Santiago. Ayden White threw three innings of hitless relief.

Redondo Union 6, Mira Costa 2: Robby Zimmerman struck out eight in 5⅔ innings.

Cypress 7, Mater Dei 5: Austin Gerken hit a three-run home run for Mater Dei, but Drew Slevcove got the save for Cypress.

Los Alamitos 6, Edison 5: A two-run double by Willie Adams keyed the comeback win.

Bishop Amat 7, St. Paul 0: Ashton Chavez, Kevin Martin and Izaac Muniz combined on the shutout. Omar Arretche had three hits for Bishop Amat.

Softball

Norco 14, Corona Centennial 0: Leighton Gray hit two home runs for Norco.

Football fans are airing their frustrations about the continuing rise in the costs of watching the NFL.

As the league has continued to strike new media deals with different streaming services, fans are left scrambling to figure out not only which channel or streaming service the game is on, but also whether they subscribe to that service. OutKick’s Davey Hudson took to the streets of Nashville and New York City to talk to aggrieved football fans.

“I think it’s frustrating when you just want to watch a game, and you have to figure out what app it’s on. And then you’re paying for multiple apps all the time,” one fan said.

Another fan was blunt, calling the current system of watching games “f—ing stupid.”

“Well, it’s f—king stupid, you have to get five different platforms to watch all of the games that you want to, and still you have to pay on top. It’s ridiculous at this point,” the fan said.

One fan called it a “pain in the a–” to keep track of where and when the games are being streamed.

A different fan called it a “money grab,” citing Netflix as the latest streaming service the NFL brought in to start broadcasting its games.

One fan, who said he is a New York Jets season ticket holder and has the NFL package, lamented that he still does not have access to every game.

FCC TAKES NOTICE AS AMERICA’S MOST POPULAR SPORT BECOMES INCREASINGLY COSTLY, FRUSTRATING TO CONSUME

“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when I feel like I have every service, I have Jets season tickets, I have the NFL package, and then there is still games on top of that that I don’t have access to. It gets very frustrating,” the fan said.

Multiple fans said they pay for at least three, if not four streaming services. Numerous other fans said they pay for five or six different services at this point.

The fan who called the current system “f—king stupid,” said that she thinks that the NFL is taking the long way around to returning to satellite TV.

“Well, I think what’s actually going to happen is we are just taking the long way around going back to like satellite TV, and we are in the last stages of this part of it. It’s all going to conglomerate at one point,” she said.

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NFL fans who want access to every game need to purchase YouTube TV for “NFL Sunday Ticket,” in addition to the costly subscriptions for all the streaming services the NFL broadcasts on. Those streaming services are Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. The combination of those respective services is over $1,500 a year, and that doesn’t include the fees that come with basic cable packages or high-speed Wi-Fi that is needed to accommodate the platforms.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said he was concerned that the rising prices of streaming games are maddening for sports fans, and it appears his concerns are valid.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

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