DeKALB, Illinois – Sophomore Emmalise Nock put an exclamation point on the Northern Illinois University gymnastics team's comeback win over Kent State Saturday with a near-perfect floor exercise routine as the Huskies recorded their third consecutive 195-plus score of the season.
 
NIU finished the annual Beauty and the Beast meet with a score of 195.375 to Kent State's 195.025, while Simpson finished with 185.175. The Huskies improved to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the MAC. Kent State is 4-5, 1-1. The Huskie wrestling team defeated Buffalo, 15-14, as the teams competed simultaneously in the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"I'm super proud of the team," said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. "We saw lots of positives today, and beating a conference team is always good. I have a lot of respect for Kent State, they are perennially one of the best teams in the conference, so to match up against them and come out on top makes it a good day. The crowd was great. I love the Beauty and the Beast meet. It was loud, it was raucous, we felt that energy when wrestling got that late win when we were on floor. Hopefully the fans enjoyed it."
 
Nock, the Huskies' final competitor on floor exercise, earned a score of 9.950, the highest score of the season by NIU on any event as she became just the fifth gymnast in school history to score 9.950 or higher on floor exercise. Her score capped off a stellar performance by the entire NIU floor squad, whose 49.325 score ranks sixth in the Huskie record books.
 
"I've been touting our floor squad since the beginning of the year," Morreale said. "Going into [the rotation], I told them let's just make this like a practice. Get out there and do the routines like you did last week in practice and that's what they did. It's not about being special at a meet, it's just about being who we are."
 
NIU trailed Kent State, 146.425-146.050 heading into the final rotation. Junior Olivia Lynd got the Huskies off to a good start on floor exercise with a career high 9.875. Seniors Ciara Ryan and Jacklyn Dolitsky contributed marks of 9.800 and 9.825, respectively, with Dolitsky also netting a career high score with her routine. Freshman Isabella Sissi was the third Huskie to score a career high on floor with her 9.875, which gave the Huskies the lead and set the stage for Nock's career best performance.
 
"Olivia started awesome, that's probably the best routine she's done all year in practice or in competition," Morreale said. "Kendall [George] is not in the floor line-up usually, but she stepped up and hit. Jack [Dolitsky] had another great outing on floor and Emmalise was just awesome. We know that is something she can do."
 
The Huskie beam team went 49-plus for the third straight meet, totaling a 49.200, tied for the fifth best team beam score at NIU with six hit routines, including five that scored 9.800 or higher. Lynd and Brookelyn Sears tied for second with marks of 9.850, behind only NIU junior Alyssa Al-Ashari whose score of 9.875 was good for her second event win of the meet.
 
"Another really solid outing from the balance beam group," Morreale said. "The hard thing for them is now I'll start to expect a 49 every time. It is so hard to go 49, especially because every little check or bobble becomes a deduction, so I'm super, super happy with them."
 
Al-Ashari also won the uneven parallel bars with a career best 9.925, while Natalie Hamp was second with an 9.850 as NIU totaled a 48.900 on bars. 
 
Freshman all-arounder Isabella Sissi, who tied for fourth on both balance beam and floor exercise, was the Huskies' top finisher on vault at 9.725 to tie for second.  She was also second in the all-around with a 39.125, her fourth 39-plus all-around score of the season.
 
 NIU is next in action on Sunday, February 12, when they take on Ball State in Muncie. The meet gets underway at 1 p.m.
 
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