Women's Gymnastics | February 9
DeKalb, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team finished in second place in a quad-meet inside the NIU Convocation Center on Friday night.
The Huskies picked up two victories, against University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 194.575-193.175 and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 194.575-190.900 in the meet. NIU was defeated 195.350-194.575 by Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan.
The NIU gymnastics team competed simultaneously with NIU Wrestling in the annual Beauty and the Beast meet with 1,278 fans in attendance.
"The atmosphere tonight was awesome," said NIU head coach
Sam Morreale. "That is what will prepare us for MAC Championships because that is what it's like. I thought we did a great job handling all of that tonight."
Senior
Alyssa Al-Ashari (Lansing, Mich. / Grand Ledge) earned first place honors on bars with a 9.850. Al-Ashari also scored a 9.700 on beam to tie for fifth.
"Alyssa is one of the best gymnasts I have ever had on the team.," Morreale said. "We expect a lot from her, and she expects a lot from herself. She has a tough role and she relishes it. She is a great teammate and team leader."
Junior
Isabella Sissi (Blaine, Minn. / Mounds View) scored a 9.800 on beam to tie for first place on that event. Sissi also finished second in the all-around with a 39.100.
Natalia Kraus (Fairport, N.Y. / Fairport) scored a career high 9.775 and placed third on bars.
After struggling on balance beam in its last outing, NIU bounced back Friday, scoring the highest of the four teams on the event with a 48.475.
"They trained super hard this week to be ready for this," Morreale said. "We are a good beam team and we believe we can do even better."
On the vault,
Kiera O'Shea (Norridge, Ill. / Ridgewood) finished in third place with a score of 9.850 and
Dawsyn Sallee (Versailles, Ky. / Woodford County) scored a career high on the event as she earned a 9.825. The Huskies' 48.950 team score on vault was its highest on any event in the meet.
NIU will have a quick turnaround as they will travel to Kent State in MAC competition at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11.
"I'm excited for this double weekend," Morreale said. "We will be able to get out there and compete again on Sunday and I believe we will knock it out of the park."
-- NIU --
