No. 11 Women's Gymnastics Welcomes No. 24 Ohio State for Flip for a Cure Meet

Feb. 13, 2015 -->

PENN STATE hosts OHIO STATE
Saturday, Feb. 14 - 4 p.m. ET
Recreation Building | University Park, Pa.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
	PSU	OSU
Team	195.975	195.163
V	49.210	48.921
UB	49.075	48.671
BB	48.785	48.663
FX	48.905	48.963

2015 Season Averages

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After eclipsing the 197-point mark for the first time in 2015, No. 11 Penn State women's gymnastics program will look to build off of that when they welcome No. 24 Ohio State to Rec Hall for its annual Flip for the Cure meet at 4 p.m. Both teams will don their pink leotards in support of breast cancer awareness.

Penn State and Ohio State first competed during the 1965 season - the inaugural season of women's gymnastics at Penn State - and will be meeting for the 51st time during the regular season. The Buckeyes are the most common opponent for the Nittany Lions, with Penn State owning a 31-18-1 edge in the series. PSU has won seven straight home decision over OSU.

Freshman Briannah Tsang won her third Big Ten Freshman of the Week award after claiming the all-around title and tying for the balance beam crown vs. Michigan State last weekend. She has seven individual event titles and three all-around wins on the season and ranks among the top 50 nationally on the vault (19th) and uneven bars (41st), and in the all-around (23rd).

Sophomore Emma Sibson competed in the all-around for the first time in her career last Saturday vs. Michigan State and posted a second place showing with a total of 39.400. She opened the meet with a season-best 9.900 on the vault to win the event for the first time this season and fifth time in her career.

Senior Krystal Welsh posted a pair of event wins vs. the Spartans last weekend, claiming the uneven bars crown and tying for the floor exercise crown. Welsh swung her way to a career-high-tying 9.900 on the uneven bars to win the event outright, while earning a 9.900 on the floor exercise to tie for the even title with teammate Oni Timothy and MSU's Elena Lagoski. For Timothy, it was her first career individual event title.

Ohio State posted a pair of victories last weekend, claiming a 195.650-195.200 decision at Bowling Green on Friday, Feb. 6 before topping Big Ten foe Rutgers, 194.875-193.800, at home on Sunday, Feb. 8. The Buckeyes close meets strong on the balance beam and floor exercise, ranking 20th and 14, respectively, in the NCAA. They also rank 24th nationally on the vault.

Freshman Alexis Mattern is ranked among the national leaders on the floor exercise with a 9.833 season average. She won the event last weekend at Bowling Green with a career-best 9.925, before claiming the all-around title with a score of 39.125 vs. Rutgers on Sunday.

Attaining the Elusive 197
The penultimate score for a collegiate women's gymnastics team sits at 197.000. It is not a score easily attained, with Penn State being one of just 10 NCAA programs to score 197.000 or better in 2015.

• The 197.025 vs. Michigan State is tied for the fifth highest score in Penn State history. Penn State also scored 197.025 on Feb. 19, 1999 vs. Alabama.
• Four of the six 197.000 or better scores have come under the direction of Jeff Thompson.
• Penn State's team score of 197.025 in their victory over Michigan State makes it one of just 10 teams to top the 197 mark this season in the NCAA.
• Three of the ten programs are from the Big Ten; Penn State, Nebraska and Michigan. Four come from the SEC, two from the PAC 12 and one from the Big XII.

The Freshest B1G Team
Penn State has seen a Big Ten-best five different freshmen win the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award since it was installed during the 2010 season.

• A Big Ten-best four Nittany Lions have earned multiple Freshman of the Week laurels; Sharaya Musser (3, 2010), Samantha Musto (2, 2013), Emma Sibson (2, 2014) and Tsang.
• Overall, Penn State ranks second in Big Ten history with 10 Freshman of the Week awards won since 2010. Michigan is first with 15, while Nebraska and Minnesota each have nine.
• Tsang has won the award three times this season, which gives Penn State a multi-time winner in each of the last three seasons.
• Tsang became the second straight PSU rookie to win the initial FOTW honor from the Big Ten, as Nicole Medvitz did so to start the 2014 campaign.

Three B1G Awards for Tsang
Over the first five weeks of the season, Nittany Lion freshman Briannah Tsang has captured three Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards.

• Tsang shared the award after a season-opening quad meet win over Cornell, New Hampshire & Rutgers on Jan. 10. She also earned the accolade after wins over Maryland (1/24) and Michigan State (2/7).
• Her third award came after winning the all-around (39.475) and tying for the balance beam crown (9.875) vs. Michigan State; finishing among the top four on all four apparatus.
• Tsang tied her career-best on the uneven bars (9.850) and floor exercise (9.875) to finish tied for third and tied for fourth, respectively, vs. the Spartans. She also notched a 9.875 on the vault tie for second overall on the event.
• Tsang captured her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor after winning the all-around vs. Maryland with a career-best 39.500.
• Vs. Maryland, she posted the ninth highest score in school history to win the balance beam with a total of 9.950 and followed that up with a 9.875 on the floor exercise to capture the title.
• Tsang won a pair of event titles and the all-around in the Nittany Lions' season opener vs. Cornell, New Hampshire and Rutgers.
• Her all-around score of 39.225 was the highest by a freshman in the season opener in school history and was the highest all-around score by a freshman since Sharaya Musser posted a score of 39.500 at the Big Ten Championships in 2010.
• Tsang won the vault title with a score of 9.850 and claimed the balance beam with a 9.800 mark in the season opener.

Cracking the Vault Record
On Jan. 31 at Illinois, Penn State posted the best team score in school history on the vault with a 49.550.
Complete School Records on Page 10.

• The 49.550 broke the school record that was first set on Feb. 16, 2003 in a tri-meet at West Virginia with Rutgers (49.500).
• All six gymnasts posted scores of 9.850 or better on the event, marking the first time Penn State has seen all six performers top the 9.850 mark since they did so in 2014 on the floor exercise at the NCAA Regional.
• The previous record of 49.500 was equaled on two other occasions; 2004 NCAA Regionals and vs. Cornell, Iowa and Yale on Jan. 23, 2010. Both were home competitions.
• Five of the top-10 all-time team vault scores have came on the road, including last week's school record performance.
• Penn State is No. 11 in the NCAA on the vault with a 49.210 average.

Nothing Uneven About Lions on Bars
The uneven bars can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned gymnast. A slight over-shoot can send you tumbling to the mat, but Penn State has put together solid showings on the apparatus all season.

• Penn State currently ranks 10th nationally with a team average of 49.075 on the uneven bars and four gymnasts are ranked among the top-60 in the NCAA on the apparatus.
• The Nittany Lions swept the top six places in their quad-meet with Cornell, New Hampshire and Rutgers.
• Their 49.000 team score in the season opener was the highest to start a season on bars since Jan. 9, 1999 when they scored 49.125 vs. Rutgers.
• Penn State has posted the top team score on the event in four of their five meets, improving their season best score in each of the first three meets.
• Sidney Sanabria-Robles won or tied for the title on the uneven bars in each of her first two meets. She did so with scores of 9.850 in both competitions.
• Against Maryland, Penn State claimed three of the top four scores. Krystal Welsh won the event with a career-high 9.900, while Tsang finished second (9.850) and Sanabria-Robles tied for third (9.825).

Lions Achieve Historic Marks in Sweep of Maryland
Penn State did something that not many teams have done in school history inside of the historic Recreation Building on Saturday, Jan. 24 vs. Maryland.

• Penn State posted a team score of 196.550, which is the second highest January score in school history. The 1999 squad posted a 196.750-193.550 win over Florida at home on Jan. 30, 1999.
• It is just the seventh time in program history that the Nittany Lions scored 196.000 or better before the calendar turned to February. Most recently the Lions logged a 196.025 vs. Cornell, Southeast Missouri and UIC on Jan. 18, 2014.
• Penn State swept all four individual event titles, posted the high score on all four team events and claimed the all-around title.

Sweeping the Floor vs. Terps
Penn State posted its then-highest floor exercise score of the season vs. Maryland on Jan. 24 and in the process swept the top six spots in the event.

• Freshman Briannah Tsang led the way for the Nittany Lions with an event winning and career-best score of 9.875. It was the first floor exercise title of her career.
• Krystal Welsh finished second at 9.850 and Emma SIbson claimed third on the event at 9.825.
• The trio of Lauren Li, Sidney Sanabria-Robles and Oni Timothy all tied for four at 9.800. No Terrapin competitor posted a score better than 9.775.
• It is the second time this season that Penn State swept the top six spots on an apparatus; doing so in their season opening quad meet on the uneven bars.

Nittany Lions Return to Top-10
Penn State has a rich and storied tradition in women's gymnastics and another chapter is unfolding this season, as the Nittany Lions returned to the NCAA top-10 for the first time since 2012 on Jan. 26.

• Penn State entered the top-10 in the national rankings on Jan. 26, 2015 with a season average of 195.750.
• It was the first time Penn State had been among the top-10 in the national rankings since Feb. 20, 2012 when they sat at 10th.
• It was also their highest ranking since Jan. 23 of the 2012 campaign when the Lions were No. 9 in the national polls with a scoring average of 196.000.

There's No Place Like Home
Penn State enjoys one of the most historic collegiate gymnastics venues in the country and they take pride in giving the home crowd something to cheer for, including a lot of wins.

• Since 1975, Penn State owns a 219-52 overall record in home meets. The Nittany Lions are 216-52 at Rec Hall and are 3-0 in meets contested inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
• Penn State is currently unbeaten in their last five home dates, which is tied for the seventh longest streak in school history.
• Penn State swept it last two home meets in 2014 and won its first three home dates in 2015.
• The longest unbeaten streaks in school history are as follows: (Streaks are listed by home meets, not wins, which means if Penn State hosted three teams they would need to be victorious vs. all three teams to extend the streak.)

1. 1977-82 - 28 meets
2. 1999-2001 - 11 meets
3. 1975-77 - 10 meets
4. 2013-14 - 6 meets
-- 2009-10
-- 2005
7. 2014-15 - 5 meets
-- 2007
-- 1992-93
9. 2011 - 4 meets
-- 1991
-- 1986-87

Senior Campaign Off to Good Start for Sanabria-Robles
After earning second team All-Big Ten last season, senior Sidney Sanabria-Robles is gunning for first team honors in 2015.

• Of her 25 routines (20 events & five all-around) she has finished among the top 3 on 14 occasions (56.0 percent).
• Sanabria-Robles won the all-around at Illinois with a career-best score of 39.500.
• She finished second in the all-around at No. 8 Nebraska (39.425) and vs. Maryland (39.350).
• She won or tied for the title on the uneven bars in each of the first two meets of the season and won the balance beam title at No. 14 Illinois.
• She has set or tied her career-high on three of hte four apparatus this season; scoring 9.950 on the balance beam at Illinois, moving her into a tie for No. 9 in Penn State history on the event.
• Her 9.900 score on the vault at Nebraska equals her career-best, which she accomplished three times last season, and a 9.900 on the uneven bars vs. the Illini was a career-best effort.

Tsang A Hit Maker During Rookie Campaign
Freshman Briannah Tsang has made a quick impact on the collegiate gymnastics scene and has been a solid performer in the all-around in all five meets this season.

• Through five meets, Tsang has won seven event titles and three all-around crowns and posted three top-10 scores in Penn State history.
• She has claimed three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and has 17 top-three finishes in 25 routines (20 event & five all-around).
• The rookie wrote her name into the record books three straight weeks from Jan. 17-31. Her 9.950 on the vault is tied for ninth best vault in PSU history, which she accomplished on on Jan. 17 at No. 8 Nebraska and on Jan. 31 at No. 14 Illinois.
• She also ranks tied for ninth in school history on the balance beam with a 9.950 score vs. Maryland on Jan. 24.
• It is the second straight season that a freshman has entered the record books, with Emma Sibson posting scores 9.975 (T5th) and 9.950 (T9th) during the 2014 season.
• Tsang currently ranks nationally on a pair of apparatus and in the all-around. She is 19th on the vault (9.890) and 41st on the uneven bars (9.830), while sitting 23rd in the all-around with a season average of 39.230.
• Her all-around score of 39.225 vs. Cornell, New Hampshire and Rutgers was the highest by a freshman in the season opener in school history and was the highest all-around score by a freshman since Sharaya Musser posted a score of 39.500 at the Big Ten Championships in 2010.
• The rookie posted the 10th highest all-around score in the nation during the opening weekend at 39.225.
• Her season-high all-around score of 39.500 is the second highest score by a freshman this season (Kennedy Baker, Florida; 39.550).

Carroll Back in Form After Injury Filled 2014 Season
Junior Lexi Carroll missed 11 of Penn State's 14 meets in 2014 due to a pair of injuries, but the senior opened 2015 with a bang on Jan. 10 by competing in three of four events for the Blue and White.

• In the season opener, Carroll hit on all three of her routines and posted scores of 9.725 or aboves on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
• She tied for third overall on the floor exercise and ranked among the top three for PSU on the balance beam and floor exercise.
• The senior took home the Ann Carr Award - given to the gymnast with the most inspirational performance at each Penn State home meet - vs. Cornell, New Hampshire and Rutgers on Jan. 10.
• Carroll missed the first six meets of the 2014 season due to a finger injury before returning for an exhibition performance against No. 15 Illinois on Feb. 15.
• After competing in three meets, she suffered an Achilles injury on March 8 and missed the remaining five meets of the season.

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--NITTANY LIONS--