Feb. 25, 2018
By Maria Evangelou, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Rec Hall was teeming with activity on Saturday, where the women's gymnastics team celebrated not only the final home meet of the regular season, but also the annual senior day, all in addition to the season's second double dual of the season with the men's squad. The No. 28 Penn State women's gymnastics team welcomed the No. 18 George Washington Colonials, and the men's squad faced off to Minnesota.
Penn State had a week of wins to live up to as the team was coming off a first-place score of 195.325 in a tri-meet against Cornell and Penn last weekend.
Extra pressure was surely riding on Briannah Tsang, the team's lone active senior, on her senior day. However, Tsang has proven time and time again that she works beautifully under pressure--and Saturday was no different.
Tsang and her Nittany Lion teammates started the day off strong on vault.
"I definitely have to give it to our coaching," head coach Sarah Brown said. "Rob Drass handles our vaulting and each week he comes in and does the best he can between finding the balance between big vaults and landings. I thought we did a much better job controlling our landings. We also were able to debut another 1.5 from Lauren Bridgens, so to have two vaults in the lineup that start from a 10 is incredible. I just can't say enough about their composure, being that we only have five athletes competing, we really didn't' have room for error, and they handled themselves like pros tonight."
Bridgens also tied a personal record she achieved earlier this month, nabbing another 9.925 on the uneven bars. She was quickly followed with a matched score and flawless performance by junior Sabrina Garcia in the same event. The Nittany Lions took a win on bars with a 49.325, with Penn State gymnasts securing the top two spots and a tie for third.
"I think the greatest thing is that we had way more sticks, way more energy after each person's turn," Garcia said. "We took everything one at a time, and that was the main difference between this and the last meet. I think we did really well."
"I followed a really strong bar lineup with Sabrina and Lauren," Tsang said, who tied for third in the event. "So, I just wanted to go out there and have fun, too."
Several unfortunate falls showed for some difficulty on the beam, where the Nittany Lions scored 48.350. However, Tsang's high 9.900 contributed to the scoring immensely, earning her yet another accomplishment on her senior day.
In light of her senior day, it only seemed fitting that Tsang would anchor the lineup on the team's final event. The gymnast landed a tied for career-best 9.950 on the floor to tie for first with George Washington's Camille Drouin-Allaire, with fellow Nittany Lion Garcia snagging the spot just below. The gymnasts gathered together after the conclusion of the event for an emotional celebratory hug with Tsang at the center.
"We started the meet so strong on vault and carried that into bars," Brown said. "We're still struggling to find our confidence on beam, so we had some mistakes there that we've seen throughout the year. I think since we've seen those mistakes before, we knew that we could finish the meet strong on floor, and it was amazing to send out our senior with a team best both on vault and floor."
Tsang was awarded the All-Around title with a total score of 39.600, a career-best score. Other placing Nittany Lions included Bridgens and Garcia.
"Bri has had an amazing career, and she showed that tonight," Brown said. "What could be better than a career best at senior night at home? It just shows that she's not done yet, she still has more in her, and she continues to be an amazing leader for our program."
In addition to Tsang, Penn State women's gymnastics program honored senior managers Chanen Raygoza, Kira Schmoke, and Oni Timothy.
"There was a lot thrown in with the double dual and last regular season home meet," Brown said. "I don't think we allowed ourselves to really think of it as the last meet here in Rec Hall, just knowing we're going to host regionals, but I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little nostalgic thinking of this being my first season here in Rec. I just attribute everything to the athletes and the amount of buy-in that they have given me."
Despite a close loss to George Washington, the Nittany Lions had much to be proud of with a season-best all-around score and multiple individual records for their athletes.
"The energy and having so many people for the double dual was super exciting, it's so much fun competing alongside the guys," Tsang said. "It was definitely exciting. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy every single moment, because there's really nothing like competing in Rec Hall."
The Nittany Lions will begin their slate of away meets for the remainder of their regular season in Pittsburgh on Sunday, March 4, where they will face Pittsburgh and West Virginia.