Jan. 5, 2014
193.550 Iowa State (0-1) |
Ames, Iowa • Hilton Coliseum • Attendance: 1,435 | 193.925 No. 15 Penn State (1-0) |
AMES, Iowa; January 5, 2014 - A monster edge on the vault, led by junior Randi Lau's (Honolulu, Hawaii) individual event win helped the No. 15 Penn State women's gymnastics team open their season with a 193.925-193.550 victory over Iowa State on Sunday inside Hilton Coliseum.
Lau tied for the highest individual score on any event when she stuck her vault and earned a score of 9.825, tying Iowa State's Henrietta Green's score on the uneven bars. The junior also tied for second in the all-around with teammate Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico), with both gymnasts finishing with a four-event score of 38.825.
"We're very proud of how we performed today," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "We accomplished out goal of competing the way we practiced. We might have held back a little bit on the first event, but we really did well on the vault, floor exercise and balance beam. "
Iowa State won three of the four events and Caitlin Brown won the all-around with a score of 38.900. Green won the uneven bars (9.825) and tied with Milan Ivory on the floor exercise (9.800), while Alex Marasco and Brown tied for the balance beam (9.775) crown.
The Nittany Lions took the lead from the start when they posted a score of 48.225 on the uneven bars to the Cyclones score of 48.000 on the vault. Penn State added to its lead in the second rotation when they notched a 48.625 team score on the vault to Iowa State's 48.600 on the uneven bars.
After three rotations, however, PSU led by just .125 with just the balance beam remaining.
With Penn State on the balance beam and Iowa State on the floor exercise, four Nittany Lions posted scores of 9.700 or better, including a 9.725 to close out the meet by senior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.), to close out the season opening victory.
"We had a [slight] lead entering our last event [balance beam] and we knew that we would need to hit all of our routines," said Thompson. "Being able to get up there and do that under pressure in the first meet of the year was outstanding. I don't think the scores don't reflect how strong the performance was, but it is a starting point for us."
Four of the six competitors in the all-around donned blue and white leotards and the duo of Lau and Sanabria-Robles posted identical scores of 38.825 to finish second. Junior Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) also had a nice afternoon on all four events to finish fifth in her first all-around since 2012 with a score of 38.525. Sophomore Samantha Musto (Mays Landing, N.J.) also competed in the all-around, scoring 38.050.
"Randi [Lau], Sidney [Sanabria-Robles] and Krystal [Welsh] were all three outstanding for us today," Thompson said. "They did what they do every day in practice. Krystal is such an even-tempered gymnast and she did that today on all four events. Randi is a gamer and she showed that today. She was solid on all four events today. Sidney understands that competing can also be fun and she enjoys competition. She enjoyed herself today and I hope that is something that becomes contagious with our team."
Freshman Emma Sibson (Allen, Texas) finished third overall on the vault in her first collegiate competition with a score of 9.700. Fellow rookie, Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) opened her collegiate career by finishing tied for third on the balance beam with a team-best score of 9.750.
"Emma [Sibson] was great on vault and Nicole [Medvitz] was great on beam, just like we recruited them to be," added Thompson. "That was great to see. Being here and feeling the excitement of competition will really help them as we head to Kentucky next weekend."
The Nittany Lions will have just five days before heading to Lexington, Ky. to compete in a quad meet at the University of Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 10. Ball State and West Virginia will also join the Nittany Lions and Wildcats at Memorial Coliseum at 7 p.m.
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