Hephzibah Sujoe, speller 562, is out.
The Texas seventh grader misspelled "flaser," an irregular usually streaked lens of granular texture found in a micaceous interstitial mass of rock and produced by shearing and pressure during metamorphism.
Last year, she misspelled in round three, and was tied for 323rd place.
She's spelled words like commentariat, vibratiuncle, neossoptile, forcene, distelfink, yponomeutid and campylobacter.
Hephzibah was wearing a bee broach her coach got her for her 13th birthday, just days ago.
She said she came close to misspelling in an earlier round, but got the word right -- and was thrilled to have a friend on stage who could give her a hug.
"Sometimes, it's kind of fun, but it's also kind of nervewracking," she said. "I'm not trying to beat the other spellers. I'm trying to conquer the words."
Her flute, on the other hand, helped her conquer first chair. She named it Alexander the Great.
Hephzibah's brother, Ansun, was the 2014 co-champion. She said she was inspired by how well he spelled. He helped her with the mental parts of the Bee, she said.
Hephzibah said she always prays before she goes up to spell.
When not spelling, she plays soccer and basketball, runs track and plays piano and violin. She also enjoys calligraphy.