Feb. 10, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team (5-2, 2-2 B1G) hosts the No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes (5-2, 2-2 B1G) Saturday, Feb. 11, inside Rec Hall at 4 p.m. Saturday's meet will be the final double dual meet for Penn State gymnastics this season. Fans are encouraged to wear white Saturday to support the Nittany Lions.
Penn State is coming off a season-best score of 195.925 last weekend at home against the Michigan State Spartans. Against Michigan State, the Nittany Lions claimed all four event titles, three of which were won with a season-best score.
Individually against Michigan State, Nicole Medvitz won her third balance beam title of the season, and the 10th of her career, while Sabrina Garcia tied her career-best to capture her second floor exercise title of the season and she also captured her first career all-around title with a career-best 39.400.
Saturday's meet is the penultimate home meet of the season for the Nittany Lions. Penn State travels to Denton, Texas, next weekend for a quad meet against Sacramento State, Texas Woman's University and Western Michigan. The Nittany Lions host their final home meet of the season on Feb. 25 against Pittsburgh.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and live video for free on GoPSUsports.com.
SATURDAY'S PROMOTIONS
- White shaker giveaway, while supplies last
- Kids Zone: airbrush tattoo and caricature artist from 2:30-4:30
- Post-meet pizza party and men's team autographs
- Free admission for members of the armed forces, public safety personnel and veteran
TICKET INFORMATION
Single meet tickets are available for all home meets in advance and at the door on the event night at a cost of $8 for adults and $5 for youth. Group tickets (20 or more) can be purchased in advance for a reduced rate of $4 each.
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.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
No. 18 Ohio State heads to Happy Valley sporting an overall record of 5-2 and a record of 2-2 in Big Ten competition.
Ohio State opened up the 2017 season with a record of 4-0 before going 1-2 over the past three meets. The Buckeyes began the season on Jan. 7 with a 194.375-192.800 victory at Pittsburgh and then Ohio State finished first in a quad meet against Kent State, Michigan and Washington on Jan. 14.
Ohio State then recorded back-to-back losses against Iowa and Minnesota.
OSU recorded its first loss of the season as Iowa topped the Buckeyes on Jan. 21, 196.175-195.525 and then a week later, Minnesota recorded a 196.800-196.450 win over the Buckeyes. Last weekend, the Buckeyes got back into the win column with a 195.775-194.300 victory over Rutgers.
OHIO STATE RANKINGS
Based on season averages, Ohio State ranks 18th in team scoring (195.585), 17th on the vault (48.980), 21st on the uneven bars (48.830), 18th on the balance beam (48.895) and is 25th on the floor exercise (48.880).
OHIO STATE LEADERS
Based on season averages, Alexis Mattern leads the team in the all-around (39.235), vault (9.845), uneven bars (9.825) and the floor exercise (9.835), while Taylor Harrison leads the team on the balance beam (9.820). Among the Big Ten leaders, Mattern ranks fourth on the vault and she is fifth in the all-around.
SERIES VS. OHIO STATE
Penn State leads the all-time regular season series against Ohio State, 33-18-1, with Penn State winning the last four meetings. The Nittany Lions have tallied a 5-1-0 record against Ohio State in the regular season under head coach Jeff Thompson.
Last year the Nittany Lions topped the Ohio State Buckeyes, 195.925-195.675, in St. John Arena. For the Nittany Lions in last year's meeting, Sabrina Garcia tied for the vault title (9.775), Mason Hosek won the balance beam title outright (9.900), and Briannah Tsang tied for the floor exercise title (9.900).
PENN STATE RANKINGS
Based on season averages, Penn State is tied for 32nd in team score (194.445), tied for 44th on the vault (48.525), 19th on the uneven bars (48.865), 20th on the balance beam (48.740) and 52nd on the floor exercise (48.315).
PENN STATE LEADERS
Based on season averages, Briannah Tsang leads the team on the vault (9.815) and the all-around (39.238), Kristen Politz leads the team on the uneven bars (9.820), Nicole Medvitz (9.810) leads the team on the balance beam and Sabrina Garcia leads the team on the floor exercise (9.830). In the Big Ten conference, Tsang ranks fourth in the all-around average.
BIG TEN HONORS
Following the season-opening quad meet, Briannah Tsang was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the first time in her career.
Individually, Tsang won titles outright on the vault (9.850), floor exercise (9.850) and all-around (39.350). She also tied for the balance beam title with a 9.825.
STELLAR SOPHOMORE SEASON
So far in her second year with the Blue & White, sophomore Sabrina Garcia has set a pair of top-10 performances in the Penn State record books, won five event titles and has three team-leading performances.
On the year, Garcia has posted team-leading scores on the uneven bars (9.950), floor exercise (9.900) and in the all-around (39.400).
Garcia has recorded a 9.950 on the uneven bars twice and she has won the uneven bars twice, the floor exercise twice and brought home her first career all-around title against Michigan State.
WELCOME BACK
The Nittany Lions return 12 members from the 2016 team that finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships and fifth at the NCAA Regional Championships.
Last year, a pair of Nittany Lion freshmen competed in all 12 meets (Mason Hosek & Jessica Jones), while freshman Sabrina Garcia competed in 11 of 12 meets on the year.
RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE
Sophomore Sabrina Garcia swung into the Nittany Lion record books with her performance on the uneven bars in the 2017 season-opener.
Garcia recorded a career-best 9.950 on the uneven bars, which tied the No. 3 performance in school history.
Two weeks later, Garcia posted another 9.950 on the uneven bars against Maryland on Jan. 21.
TSANG'S 32 TITLES
Junior Briannah Tsang has captured 25 individual titles and seven all-around titles in her Nittany Lion career.
Tsang opened up her junior year with three individual titles and the all-around title in a quad meet victory against Bowling Green, BYU and Temple on Jan. 7.
On the year, she has six individual event titles and a pair of all-around titles.
FIRST CAREER TITLES
Freshman Kristen Politz and sophomore Peyton Schuller both captured their first career title as Nittany Lions against Maryland on Jan. 21.
Politz and Schuller tied for the floor exercise title along with Sabrina Garcia against Maryland, as they all tallied a 9.825.
NEW NITTANY LIONS
Tess McCracken, Kristen Politz and Mikayla Waddell joined the Penn State women's gymnastics team in the fall of 2016 as freshmen.
McCracken is from Plano, Texas, while Politz (Morganville) and Waddell (Ridgewood) both call New Jersey home.
NITTANY LION DEBUTS
All three Nittany Lion freshmen have competed in at least one meet during the 2017 season.
Tess McCracken made her Nittany Lion lineup debut at Nebraska, Kristen Politz competed in the season-opener and Mikayla Waddell made her lineup debut in Blue & White at Illinois.
ALL-AROUND DEBUT
In her first career all-around, freshman Kristen Politz tallied a 39.050 to finish third at the Penn State-Nebraska meet.
On the day, Politz recorded a 9.875 on the uneven bars, a 9.625 on the vault, a 9.750 on the floor exercise and a 9.800 on the balance beam.
SIBSON RETURNS
After an injury plagued 2016, senior Emma Sibson made her return for the Nittany Lions in the season-opening quad meet. In her lone event of the day, Sibson tied for seventh on the vault with a 9.725.
A 2015 Second Team All-Big Ten honoree, Sibson owns eight career event titles. During her first two seasons at Penn State she competed in all 26 meets, which included tying for fifth-place on the vault at the 2015 Big Ten Championships (9.900).
PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State women's gymnastics team was selected 23rd in the 2017 National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Nittany Lions closed out the 2016 season ranked No. 26.
Penn State will compete against eight programs that are ranked in the NACGC/W Preseason Coaches' Poll during the 2017 season.
HOME SWEET HOME
The 2017 slate features five home meets for the Nittany Lions inside Rec Hall. Penn State opens the 2017 campaign at home in a quad meet against Bowling Green, BYU and Temple on Jan. 7. The Nittany Lions return home two weeks later to host Maryland in a double dual with the Penn State men's program on Jan. 21.
The month of February features three home meets for the Blue & White with Michigan State (Feb. 4), Ohio State (Feb. 11) and Pittsburgh (Feb. 25) coming to town. All Nittany Lion home meets start are scheduled for Saturdays at 4 p.m.
THOMPSON CAPTURES WIN NO. 150
Head coach Jeff Thompson is in his 18th season as a collegiate head coach in 2017 and during the 2016 season he captured win No. 150. In his career, Thompson has a record of 162-109.
On Feb. 22, 2016, Penn State defeated Maryland, 196.350-195.350, for Coach Thompson's 150th career win.
In his seventh season at the helm of Penn State, Thompson has a record of 90-27. Prior to Penn State, the Highland Heights, Ky., native tallied a record of 72-82 at Auburn.
In 2014, the Nittany Lions owned a 20-3 regular season record and set a school record for regular season victories on March 15 in the Big Ten Quad in Ann Arbor.
The previous school record was held by the 2007 squad, which finished 19-4 and placed third at the NCAA Regional Championships.
STARTING OFF STRONG
Since the 1999 season, the Nittany Lions have started the season with a top-10 season-opening meet score. The Nittany Lions have tallied a season-opening top-10 score in each of the past three seasons.
Three of the current top-10 scores have come under the watch of head coach Jeff Thompson.
Five of those scores have been recorded at home, with four others accomplished at the Super Six Challenge; 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007.
195.775 Morgantown, W.Va. 2012
195.075 University Park, Pa. 1999
194.875 University Park, Pa. 2006
194.850 Gainesville, Fla. 2005
194.800 University Park, Pa. 2009
194.675 University Park, Pa. 2015
194.625 University Park, Pa. 2017
194.600 Tuscaloosa, Ala. 2004
194.575 Fayetteville, Ark. 2007
194.375 Athens, Ga. 2003
THOMPSON IN ELITE COMPANY
Head coach Jeff Thompson headed back to the NCAA Championships for the second time as a head coach and his first as the leader of the Nittany Lions in 2014.
Thompson's first appearance at the national meet came with Auburn in 2003 and he led the Nittany Lions back to the national summit for the first time since the program went in 2009.
He is just the third head coach in NCAA history to navigate two different programs to the NCAA Championships, joining K.J. Kindler (Iowa State & Oklahoma) and Judi Markell (Penn State and Florida).
Thompson took Auburn to the championships during his fourth season at the helm of the program. The Tigers finished 12th at the 2003 NCAA Championships, posting a team score of 193.525.
The Highland Heights, Kentucky, native guided Penn State to their 18th appearance at the NCAA Championships in his fourth year, as well. The Blue and White finished 12th with a team score of 194.825.
MOLINARO, NILSON NAMED ASSISTANT COACHES
Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, head coach Jeff Thompson tabbed Kera Molinaro and Josh Nilson as assistant coaches with the Penn State women's gymnastics program.
The 2017 season marks the third season with Molinaro on staff with the Nittany Lions. Molinaro spent the 2016 season as an interim assistant coach after she spent the 2015 season as a volunteer assistant coach.
Nilson joined the PSU program after spending nine years at Utah State.
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 232-58 overall record in home meets. The Nittany Lions are 229-58 at Rec Hall and are 3-0 in meets contested inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The loss to North Carolina State on Jan. 9, 2016, snapped a seven-meet winning streak inside Rec Hall. The seven-meet winning streak was the fourth-best in program history.
Penn State swept its last two home meets in 2014 and was unblemished in its five home dates in 2015.
The longest unbeaten streaks in school history are as follows: (Streaks are listed by meets, not wins. Meaning if Penn State hosted three teams needed to be victorious vs. all three opponents to extend the streak.)
1977-82 28 meets
1999-2001 11 meets
1975-77 10 meets
2014-15 7 meets
2013-14/2009-10/2005 6 meets
2007/1992-93 5 meets
2011/1991/1986-87 4 meets
The Nittany Lions have won their first three home meets of the 2017 season.
SMART LIONS
Four Nittany Lions were honored by the Big Ten for their work in the classroom.
Nicole Medvitz, Christina Postiglione, Chanen Raygoza and Briannah Tsang were named to the 2016 Academic All-Big Ten team.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
BIG TEN GYMNAST TO WATCH
Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Briannah Tsang was named a Big Ten Gymnast to Watch.
Tsang tied for 38th overall on the floor exercise at the 2016 NCAA Championships with her score of 9.8125.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Nittany Lions head to Denton, Texas, to compete against Sacramento State, Texas Woman's University and Western Michigan in a quad meet on Feb. 19. The meet is slated for a 1 p.m. (CST) start at the Kitty Magee Arena.