Feb. 21, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 21, 2014 - A season-best score of 196.675 helped the No. 20 Penn State women's gymnastics program improve to 9-2 overall on the season and 3-1 in the Big Ten with a victory over then-No. 15 Illinois. The Nittany Lions now head to Piscataway, N.J. to face Temple, Ursinus and future Big Ten opponent Rutgers on Saturday (Feb. 22) at the Livingston Rec Center.
It was arguably the team's best meet of the season last Saturday vs. Illinois, as the Nittany Lions scored 49.000 or better on each of the four events, which helped them improve each of their event season averages. The team also saw four gymnasts set new career-bests in the all-around and swept the top three spots in the competition.
On the season, Penn State now ranks among the national leaders in scoring average on all four apparatus and sit No. 20 in team scoring average at 195.389. Their lineups also rank 17th on the floor exercise (49.032), 21st on the uneven bars (48.868), 24th on the vault (48.914) and 25th on the balance beam (48.575).
Senior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) is the long Nittany Lion to appear in the national rankings as an individual. She currently ranks 20th in all-around with an average score of 39.240 and she has the19th best mark in the country on the balance beam at 9.843.
She has won four individual titles on the balance beam this season, including a new career-best score of 9.925 against Nebraska to win the event. The senior has also added four uneven bar titles and one all-around crown to her resume in 2014. The all-around win in the quad meet with Cornell, Southeast Missouri and UIC was the first of her career. She has eight individual event wins this season and now has nine for her career.
After a career-high 39.425 in the all-around last weekend, junior Sidney Sanabria-Robles will look to continue her string of solid showings in the quad meet format at Rutgers. She posted a score of 9.800 or better on all four events and equaled or bettered her career-best efforts on all four apparatus. She won the vault with a career-best 9.875 and tied for third on the uneven bars and balance beam.
Freshman Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) and sophomore Samantha Muston (Mays Landing, N.J.) will both be heading back to their home state to compete this weekend.
Medvitz is coming off of her best meet of the season against Illinois. The rookie set a career-high score of 9.850 on the balance beam to tie for third on the event and posted her second highest score of the season on the uneven bars at 9.775.
The uneven bars have been a specialty for Musto this season and she came through with her best score of the season to help the Nittany Lions earn the upset win over No. 15 Illinois. She led off the rotation with a score of 9.775 on the event vs. the Illini.
The Nittany Lions return home for their final regular season competition of the season when they host Senior Day against Bridgeport, Western Michigan and Yale on Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.
For information on purchasing 2014 season tickets or Big Ten and NCAA Regional Championship tickets fans can visit http://www.gopsusports.com/tickets/w-gym-tickets.html or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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