Michigan State University
Illinois
Michigan State Defeated By Illinois, 196.550-194.025
2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State gymnastics team dropped its Friday night contest at Illinois, 196.550-194.025. Illinois improves to 7-3 overall with a 4-2 mark in conference action and takes home the ‘Victory Plank' rivalry trophy between the two schools.
Senior Nicola Deans led the Spartans and picked up her third all-around title of the season with a 38.950. Deans matched her career high with a 9.900 on the floor exercise to finish second, her best event score of the evening, while also leading the Spartans on the vault and finishing third with a score of 9.750. Elena Lagoski finished tied for fourth on the vault with a 9.725.
MSU (3-6, 0-6), had its best event of the night on the floor exercise, tallying a score of 48.925. Following Deans' second-place finish and career-best score, Lagoski tied for third with a 9.875, while Kira Frederick finished sixth with a 9.850.
"We rocked the floor tonight, which was nice to see," said Interim Head Coach Mike Rowe. "Three of our six routines were 9.85 or higher, led by Nicola who had her best routine that we have seen. I'm proud of Nicola for persevering. She's having the high demands of being an all-arounder each week with no rest, which can be exhausting, and she is handling it so well while finding success, so we are very proud of her.
"‘E' (Elena Lagoski) and Kira also had great routines tonight on the floor, and I even thought they were better than the score they were given."
The Fighting Illini entered the meet as the second best team in the Big Ten on the beam and took the top five spots in the event. Gabriella Douglas paced the Spartans with a 9.800, followed by Roya Shirley with a career-high 9.775.
The Spartans started out the night on bars and were without Hailee Westney who has four bar titles this season. Lindsey Lemke, who also has a bar title this season, stepped up and posted her best score in the Green and White on bars and finished tied for second to lead the Spartans with a 9.875. Deans finished tied for fourth with a 9.850.
"We had to bring in alternates in a couple of different spots tonight and I thought they really stepped up and did a good job for us despite the lineup being a little bit different of a dynamic," said Rowe. "We had a fall on the very first routine of the night, but the rest of the lineup all stepped up and hit their routines. The fact they could get up there and forge on was great to see. Lindsey Lemke had a season-high, so it was nice for her to have a big performance.
"There was a lot of good stuff from tonight. We know we just have to get back into the gym and continue to pay attention to the details and get back to it next week."
Up next, MSU returns home to host Arkansas on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
