Photo by Austin DeSisto/Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.
No. 25 Maryland gymnastics (7-3, 3-3 B1G) defeated No. 28 Nebraska (4-5, 2-4 B1G) Friday evening with a final score of 196.050 – 195.900 at the Xfinity Center in College Park.
Entering the meet, the Terps ranked No. 18 on vault, No. 21 on the floor and No. 25 on bars, but struggled to produce consistent high scores in their previous tri-meet against Western Michigan and No. 11 Michigan State.
Against the Cornhuskers, the Terps excelled on floor, posting three scores of 9.850 or higher. Maryland’s consistency in the fourth rotation made up for earlier errors made on the balance beam and uneven bars.
Josephine Kogler began the Terp’s rotation on vault with a yurchenko full that earned a 9.850. The graduate student recently joined the Terps’ 1000-point club after the tri-meet in East Lansing. Minnesota native Rayna Engelmayer followed with a career-high 9.900, highlighted by her precise landing.
The Cornhuskers began the meet on the uneven bars with an average score of 9.742. South Dakota native Whitney Jencks anchored the lineup with a double layout dismount that earned a 9.825 – the highest score of the event for Nebraska.
Maryland rotated to the uneven bars for the second rotation with a strong start from sophomore Sarah Saville. She earned a 9.725, with the help of her stuck double layout dismount. But was Maddie Komoroski, who led the Terps with a score of 9.800 — also finishing with a stuck double layout.
Nebraska found momentum on vault, consistently scoring above 9.800. Standout routines from Jencks and Isabel Sikoń both earned 9.900s.
Earning two-tenths better than the Terps on vault allowed the Cornhuskers to take a 98.175 – 97.850 lead at the halfway point.
The Terps looked to regain their momentum on the balance beam. Kogler and Engelmayer both scored 9.800s for Maryland. But Komoroski, who previously earned a 9.950 on the event against Rutgers, made uncharacteristic errors, dropping her score to a 9.700.
Nebraska continued to contribute consistent scores that averaged 9.808. Nya Kraus and Jencks’ routines earned 9.875s, allowing the Cornhuskers to remain in the leading position at the conclusion of the third rotation. The strong scores gave the Cornhuskers a 147.375 – 146.700 lead.
Maryland took to one of their strongest events in the final rotation – floor. At the previous tri-meet, Aine Reade captured the floor title, posting a 9.925. The sophomore continued her high-scoring streak with a 9.875. Komoroski appeared unfazed by her previous event and scored a 9.900 in her mesmerizing routine.
The bounceback performance allowed Maryland to win by 15 hundredths of a point over Nebraska, 196.050 – 195.900.
“We have a rule on our team that after every meet, you get 24 hours to tell each other that was the greatest performance in Maryland history,” head coach Brett Nelligan said. “We give them a little breather, and then we get right back to work, and the focus is just honing in on the details.”
