Jan. 13, 2018
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 17 Penn State women's gymnastics team fell to the preseason-No. 9 Nebraska Cornhuskers, 195.550-195.050, Saturday at Rec Hall. Senior Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) captured the floor exercise title and the all-around title in addition to tying for the uneven bars title with freshman Alissa Bonsall (Higganum, Conn.).
"I thought tonight was a really good night for our team, we were definitely more confident here in Rec Hall than we were last week," head coach Sarah Brown said. "I saw some really great performances and I thought we started the meet really strong. One of the things I want to keep working on is our stamina throughout the rest of the competitions. We faded a little bit on beam and we should have brought it a little bit stronger on floor, but all in all I'm happy with our performance today."
With the score tied at 146.500 after the third rotation, Nebraska (1-0, 1-0 B1G) captured the victory after outscoring Penn State (1-1, 0-1 B1G), 49.050-48.550, in the final rotation.
The meet opened up with Penn State tallying a 49.075 on the vault. For the Nittany Lions on the opening apparatus, freshman Kourtney Chinnery (Suffolk, Va.) paced the Blue & White with a 9.850 to place fourth, while junior Sabrina Garcia (Etters, Pa.) and Tsang tied for fifth as they both posted a 9.825.
During the second rotation, the Nittany Lions recorded a 49.325 on the uneven bars behind a pair of 9.900s. The Nittany Lion uneven bar lineup was anchored by Bonsall and Tsang each posting a 9.900 to tie for the event title. In addition to the duo for Bonsall and Tsang, freshman Lauren Bridgens (Darnestown, Md.) posted a 9.875 to tie for third and Garcia recorded another top-five finish with her 9.850 (T-5th). With two rotations in the books, Penn State led Nebraska, 98.400-97.700.
The third rotation saw Penn State post a 48.100 on the balance beam. The Nittany Lions closed out the balance beam with Tsang and Mason Hosek (Pearland, Texas) each posting a 9.800 to tie for fourth-place. After the third rotation, Penn State and Nebraska were tied at 146.500.
The Nittany Lions closed out the meet with a 48.550 on the floor exercise, while Nebraska finished with a 49.050 on the balance beam. For the Blue & White on the final event, Tsang captured her 13th career floor exercise title with a 9.900 and Garcia tied for second-place with a 9.825.
In the all-around standings, Tsang finished the meet with a 39.425 en route to her second all-around title of the season and the 12th crown of her career.
No. 17 Penn State takes to the road for the first time in 2018 with a trip to No. 20 Maryland on Jan. 19. The meet is slated for a 7 p.m. start at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.