March 1, 2013
Watch | Complete Season Results
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 22 Penn State women's gymnastics team will look to continue a strong stretch when it travels to No. 19 Illinois at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Nittany Lions head to Huff Hall coming off a 196.7 performance last week against the Michigan State Spartans in Rec Hall.
Penn State tied its season-high score of 196.700 in a 196.700-196.000 victory against the Michigan State Spartans last Saturday night in Rec Hall. Penn State's team score was the highest home score posted since March 4, 2011, when the team mark was a 197.075. The Nittany Lions tied their season-high score of 196.700, which was set just one week ago when the team was visiting Michigan. Additionally, Penn State posted season-high scores on uneven bars and floor exercise.
Senior Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took home the all-around title with a season-high score of 39.575. Junior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) also competed, and finished tied for third place with a 39.075. A total of five Nittany Lions set career-highs, while many others set season-bests. Senior Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) posted a career-high mark of 9.950 to lead the Lions.
The 22nd-ranked Nittany Lions possess an average score of 195.225 through nine meets this season. Penn State ranks in the top 25 in three events, including 17th on vault (49.041), 22nd on uneven bars (49.019) and 25th on balance beam (48.591).
Individually, Musser sits 11th nationally in the top 25 all-around rankings, averaging a score of 39.191. Musser additionally ranks 14th on uneven bars (9.866) and tied for 17th on balance beam (9.791).
Last week, the 19th-ranked Illini rallied on the final rotation to beat Iowa, but fell short to the 20th-ranked Buckeyes of Ohio State as the Illini lost 196.300-195.450. The Illini scored above their season averages on bars (48.950), beam (49.225) and floor (48.950) but it was the vault (48.325) that undid the Illini.
Lions return home on March 9 to take on New Hampshire, Temple, and Penn at 4 p.m. in Rec Hall. All tickets can be purchased by calling Penn State Athletics at 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Athletic Ticket Office inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
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