Sacramento State women’s gymnastics defeated conference rival Southern Utah with a score of 193.725-192.800 Friday night at The Nest.

While the Thunderbirds counted one fall on bars, the Hornets counted no falls on vault, which put them up by .75 at the end of the first rotation.

Southern Utah’s Alyssa Click scored her season high of 9.775 on bars along with Michaela Chernoch who earned a 9.7.

Although team captain Nicole Meiller and Kalliah McCartney scored their season highs, one fall was marked down for Sac State on bars, which gave Southern Utah room to outscore them on vault during the second rotation.

More season highs were recorded for Southern Utah’s Chernoch and Brooke Cersosimo on vault. Chernoch scored a 9.775 and Cersosimo put up a 9.7.

Elideth Guerrero has competed only twice so far during the season, but reached her season high on beam tonight of 9.775. Also contributing a personal best from Sac State was Dallas Smith with her career high of 9.75.

The Thunderbirds moved onto floor where Chernoch hurt her ankle during her first tumbling pass and was not able to finish the meet. Although Chernoch was taken out, it was not enough to keep Southern Utah from extending its lead to 145.175-144.675 going into the last rotation.

The .5 lead was earned by season highs of Ana Jaworski with a 9.75, Brittney Jensen with a 9.85, Caitlin Kennedy with a 9.85 and Rochelle Bernier with a 9.4.

The Hornets scored their season-high score on floor on Jan. 27 with a 49.125 against San Jose State. Friday against Southern Utah they were just .075 away from that with a score of 49.050.

“One of the main things we really focus on this year is going out with confidence and cockiness. Ever since we started emphasizing the need to act cocky, our team has grown and we have done amazing in the last couple meets,” Meiller said.

With three falls on beam from Southern Utah, the Hornets’ confidence boosted them to a 193.725-192.800 win over the Thunderbirds.

Every meet, McCartney has put up multiple career-high scores on events. Against Southern Utah, she beat her record and tied sophomore Kailey Hansen’s career-high floor score of 9.9 and scored 9.75 on bars. McCartney took home the gold on floor, vault and all-around, setting a new school freshman record of 39.200.

“She is spectacular,” said associate head coach Randy Solorio. “We knew that she was a special athlete coming in and she loves college gymnastics. She’s learning how exciting it can be and I think that helps her growth in the gym and in competitions.”

The Hornets earned their win Friday with additional personal bests from Meiller and Hansen. Meiller earned a season high 9.725 on vault and a career high on bars of 9.85 and Hansen putting up a vault score of 9.75.

“We always have some work to do to get better each week. It’s a big meet next weekend; anytime we meet Davis is a big deal. A big powerhouse, Oregon State will be there so we just want to refine things,” said head coach Kim Hughes. “We’re still looking for a regional qualifying score and anything above a 193 is going to help us so that’s what we’re aiming for.” 

The Hornets face their biggest rival, UC Davis, along with Oregon State on Friday at 7 p.m. at Davis.

Jillian Kweller can be reached at [email protected].