Gymnastics Battles Illinois Friday in Champaign

A FULL ROTATION . . .
What you need to know about the Spartans

Michigan State gymnastics takes to the road for a Big Ten matchup with Illinois Friday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. ET at Huff Hall.

Saturday's meet will be streamed live on BTN Plus. Links to the stream and live stats can be found at msuspartans.com.

SPARTAN NOTES . . .
- Gabriella Douglas tied for first and set a new career-high on floor (9.900) and set a new season-high of 9.875 on the beam vs. No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2.

- Tristan Brown set a new career-high on floor (9.825) and Ashley Beatty set a new top mark on vault (9.825) at No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2.

- MSU tallied a season-high 49.150 on floor at No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2.

- Lea Mitchell won the all-around vs. No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, posting a season-high 39.100. She started the season placing second (38.675), third (39.025) and third (38.500) in the all-around at the first three meets, respectively.

- Mitchell posted a new personal best on floor (9.900) against OSU on Jan. 27. She also tied her personal best on vault with a 9.825, on the way to tying for the meet's top honors on floor and vault.

- Senior Molly Hoerner O'Malley posted a personal best of 9.800 to lead the Spartans on bars against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27.

- Freshman Ashley Hofelich tied her personal best on floor against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, posting a 9.825.

- Senior Roya Shirley received a season-high 9.750 on vault against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27.

- Senior Jessica Ling, who has recovered from three reconstructive surguries to her ACL throughout her career, tied her personal-best and posted the Spartans top bars score of the season with a 9.875 to take second place at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18.

- Sophomore Tristan Brown posted a new career-high on bars at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18, tallying a 9.850 to finish in fourth place.

- Freshmen Ashley Hofelich and Alaina Raybon both won events in their collegiate debuts on Jan. 5 vs. NC State. Hofelich won the vault with a score of 9.800, while Raybon took top honors on the floor with a 9.850.

SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK . . .
Junior Gabriella Douglas was named the Big Ten Conference Event Specialist of the Week after her performance Saturday, Feb. 2 at No. 21 Minnesota the league announced on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

The Toronto, Ontario native set a new career-high on the floor exercise against the Golden Gophers, earning a 9.900 to tie for first after posting two-straight weeks of 9.875 on the apparatus. It's the first-career Event Specialist of the Week honor for Douglas, and first Weekly Big Ten Honor for MSU since Shanthi Teike was named Co-Freshman of the Week on Feb. 22, 2010.

Douglas also set a new season-high on the balance beam, tallying a 9.875 to tie for third. She tied her career-high with a 9.800 on the vault, after setting a new mark twice this season.

Douglas is a two-time Big Ten Gymnast to Watch, earning the honor prior to the 2018-19 season and the 2017-18 season. She missed the entire season a year ago with a knee injury. Douglas is one of two captains for the Spartans this season, along with sophomore Lea Mitchell.

SEASON HIGHS . . .
- The Spartans posted a season-high 195.225 as a team against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, topping the 195 mark for the first time this season.

- The Spartans have improved their team vault score as the season has progressed. Since posting a 48.550 against the Wolfpack on Jan. 5, MSU tallied a 48.750 at the Collegiate Challenge on Jan. 12, a 48.775 at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18, followed by a 48.800 vs. No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27 and again against No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2.

- Michigan State set a new season-high of 49.150 on floor against No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2, setting the mark for a second-straight week after posting a 49.125 vs No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI . . .
Illinois is 4-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten after last week's 195.275-193.500 loss against No. 22 Penn State. The Illini did win three event titles in the defeat.

Junior Karen Howell won the bars with a 9.850, and took second in the all-around with a 39.175. Sophomore Kasey Meeks won the vault, scoring 9.825 and freshman Shaylah Scott earned top honors on beam with a 9.825.

Illinois is coached by Nadalie Walsh, who's in her second season at the helm. She guided the program to a third-place finish at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional last season, its highest finish since 2015. She came to Illinois after leading the Utah State women's gymnastics program for four years, where she guided the Aggies to four-consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JONES SAYS . . .
"Whenever we compete against Illinois it's always intense competition that goes down to the last athlete on the final event, and I expect Friday to be no different. I'm looking forward to watching the girls leave everything out on the floor! We put a lot of emphasis on bars and beam this week in practice. Men's soccer head coach Damon Rensing and the team came in to put added pressure on the girls during intrasquads and it was awesome to see them rise to the occasion!"

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashley Beatty

Tristan Brown

Gabriella Douglas

Ashley Hofelich

Jessica Ling

Lea Mitchell

Alaina Raybon

Roya Shirley