EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 13 Michigan State hosts its second meet of the season at Jenison Field House on Saturday, Feb. 4 in a dual meet with Penn State at 7 p.m. The meet will air on B1G+, with live results available on MSUSpartans.com.
"It'll be great to be back in Jenison Saturday night after our trip to College Park last Sunday! We certainly missed our Spartan fans and all of the enthusiasm and energy they bring into our meets," said head coach Mike Rowe. "We'll be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day with representation from numerous other Spartan women's teams in attendance and being recognized during the event. The Spartans will be competing with "Grit & Grace" and building on last weekends performance."
SATURDAY CELEBRATIONS
Saturday's meet will serve as the Spartans' National Women and Sports Day celebration. MSU gymnastics will also honor Black History Month during Saturday's meet with a t-shirt that will be worn by the team and staff. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to write on the "Inspire Wall" at the entrance to receive a limited edition "Grit & Grace" Spartan gymnastics t-shirt while supplies last.
THE MATCHUP
MSU enters Saturday's meet at 3-1 (2-0 B1G) after posting its best road score of the season in a 196.950-196.425 win at Maryland on Jan. 29. The Spartans currently rank 13th in the most recent Road to Nationals rankings with an average score of 196.775. Penn State (7-3, 1-1) ranks 29th with an average of 195.719. This will be the second meet of the week for the Nittany Lions, who earned a 196.550-195.150 win over Rutgers on Monday, Jan. 30.
Penn State's 196.550 against Rutgers was its highest score of the 2023 season. The Nittany Lions also posted season-high scores on bars (49.225), beam (49.150) and floor (49.150). Individually, freshman Ava Piedrahita won the all-around with a score of 39.225, and senior Cassidy Rushlow scored a 9.950 on bars to tie for the fourth-best score in program history on the event.
The Nittany Lions are led by sixth-year head coach Sarah Brown. MSU and Penn State last met in last year's Big Five Meet in Toldeo, Ohio, with MSU notching a 196.975-196.125 win.
LAST TIME OUT
In addition to its season-high road score, the Spartans' 196.950 at Maryland was the team's second-highest score this season. MSU also set a season high on beam with a 49.325 and tied its season-high 49.250 on bars. The Spartans posted their second-highest floor score of the season with a 49.300 and scored a 49.075 on vault. MSU's 196.950 is the 10th-best score in program history.
The Spartans swept the event titles at Maryland, led by sophomore Skyla Schulte's season-high 39.450 for her first all-around title of the season. Schulte also captured the beam title with a season-high 9.900. Junior Delanie Harkness earned her third-straight bars title with a 9.900, while freshman Sage Kellerman won the vault title (9.900) and freshman Nikki Smith won the first floor event title of her career (9.900). Sophomore Gabi Stephen competed in the all-around for the fourth-straight meet, placing third with a 39.325.
NIKKI SMITH NAMED B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
MSU's Nikki Smith was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Feb. 1, her second time receiving the honor in as many weeks after being named both Co-Gymnast and Freshman of the Week on Jan. 24. Smith currently ranks 10th in the Big Ten and 40th nationally in the all-around with an average of 39.233. Smith's event-winning 9.900 on floor at Maryland was her third-straight 9.900 on the event. She also scored a career-high 9.850 on beam and posted 9.800s on both vault and bars.
UP NEXT
MSU travels to Iowa City, Iowa to face Iowa on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. ET.
