Sacramento State’s gymnastics team has been on the move since the beginning of its season.

Six of the last nine meets have been away, but the Hornets will host a three meet stretch before the final tri-meet in Davis.

“Home meets are exciting. It’s crazy fun. And fun to show off (at home),” said junior co-captain Melissa Genovese.

Traveling to other schools make some girls think about packing, planning meals and other activities while tending to travel meets.

Co-captain Nicole Giao said since the Hornets will be home for three weeks, they will have more time to mentally prepare for competition.

“It’s less stressful. We can focus on what we have to do,” Giao said.

Sac State will host three meets each Sunday beginning this week against the Pennsylvania Quakers. Cross-town rival UC Davis will follow on March 11 and Western Athletic Conference rival San Jose State University on March 17.

In his 27 years coaching at Sac State, Hughes said he has never faced Pennsylvania (8-6), but he is happy to compete against them in the Hornets Nest.

Genovese said there might always be questions when competing against someone new, but the team is keeping the focus on itself.

“Focusing on our scores is what we can control,” she said.

Freshman Eryn Stubblefield said she wasn’t going to concentrate on the minor details of away meets, but loves competing for her home crowd.

“You know you have people in the stands (for you),” she said.

The crowd during a gymnastics meet is another important factor.

Junior Giao said it gets the gymnasts excited to compete.

“It pumps us up,” she said. “I always love the crowds.”

The attendance was low on Feb. 16 during the 193.050-186.750 win over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, Hughes said. He figured the bleachers were empty due to the holiday weekend or the first and only Friday home meet on the season.

Stubblefield said the Hornets generally do better knowing people cheer the team on.”Plus, it’s always nice to have the stands full,” she said.

Hughes said not everyone at Sac State knows there is a gymnastics team, and it doesn’t help that the Hornets practice off campus.

The Hornets travel to Rancho Cordova where they practice at Sacramento Sports Center, Techniques Gymnastics on Folsom Boulevard.

Hughes is hoping that Juniors Alexis Tsurumoto and Tiffany Bass will return during the Sunday meet. Giao competed in the floor event for the first time since her ankle injury during the Alaska double meet in January, in the Spartan Gym at San Jose State and recorded a 9.775.

“It’s something I’m excited about,” Giao said about re-joining the floor rotation. “We get to show off our personalities.”Going into the meet against the Quakers, the Hornets are 9-2, and 3-2 in conference. The record isn’t the most important thing to look at when comparing one team to another, Hughes said.

“A win-loss record is only good on a weekly basis, but it doesn’t help,” he said.

San Jose State has been recording higher scores than Sac State, but the Hornets have the edge over the Spartans, Hughes said.

Hughes said the Hornets are within the top five in the region and in the top 36 in the nation, but there are still four more meets till the end of the season.

The Hornets competed Friday in a tri-meet in San Jose against the Davis Aggies (5-5) and host, San Jose State Spartans.

Sac State (193.700) took out WAC rival San Jose State (193.050), and cross-town rival UC Davis (191.450) in the Spartan Gym.

With the victory, the Hornets record their highest of the season.

“We are so close to our ideal scoring,” Hughes said.

Sophomore Marina Borisova also recorded a high that night. She posted a 39.350, which tied the best in the school’s history dating back to 1994, when Sac State competed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The victory over the Aggies gave the Hornets an additional 1.67 points in the Causeway Cup standings.

Karyn Gilbert can be reached at [email protected]