Friday, February 17
Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
8 p.m. ET
Michigan State University
at
Illinois
Photo by: Michael Wade
No. 13 Spartans Conclude B1G Season at No. 24 Illinois Monday
2/26/2023 4:23:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 13 Michigan State returns to action on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT for for its Big Ten regular season finale at No. 24 Illinois at Huff Hall in Champaign.
Monday's meet will stream on B1G+. Live results will be available on MSUSpartans.com.
Originally scheduled for Feb. 17, Monday is the second meet back for the Spartans since a mass shooting on the East Lansing Campus on Monday, Feb. 13, when three students were killed and five were hospitalized. Michigan State students returned to class on Monday, Feb. 20.
THE MATCHUP
The Spartans enter Saturday's meet at 8-2 (7-1 B1G) after a record-setting performance at the Big Five Meet on Saturday, Feb. 25 in Lincoln, Nebraska. MSU, earning its second-consecutive Big Five victory, topped No. 13 Ohio State, No. 18 Minnesota, Nebraska and Rutgers en route to a program-record 197.675 team overall score. The Spartans earned the highest team score among the two sessions over the weekend. No. 3 Michigan won the first session Friday night with a score of 197.100. MSU ranks 13th in the Week 8 Road to Nationals rankings with a national qualifying score of 196.910.
Illinois (8-7, 4-4 B1G), ranked 24th in the Week 8 rankings, competed in the first session of the Big Five Meet on Friday, Feb. 24. The Illini finished with a season-best score of 196.825, topping Penn State and Maryland and falling to Michigan and Iowa. Illinois posts an NQS of 196.490.
Michigan State and Illinois last met in dual meet action on Feb. 13, 2022, with the Spartans earning a 197.425-196.450 win in East Lansing.
LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans' 197.675 broke the previous record of 197.650 set at the NCAA Seattle Regional Finals on April 2, 2022. MSU also set a program record on vault with a 49.525, surpassing its 49.400 earned on Jan. 22 this season vs. Michigan and at the NCAA Seattle Regional finals on April 2, 2022. The Spartans set season highs on beam (49.350) and floor (49.600), with their floor score ranking second all-time in program history, and scored a 49.200 on bars.
Sophomore Gabrielle Stephen won her third-straight all around title with a 39.575, tying her career high set earlier this season for the fourth-best all-around score in school history. Freshman Nikki Smith tied for second with Nebraska's Emma Spence with a career-high 39.550, beating her own sixth-best score in program history. Sophomore Schulte tied for fourth with Minnesota's Gianna Gerdes with a 39.475, tying her season high. Stephen and Smith scored the top two all-around scores among both sessions, topping Friday's winner, Michigan's Natalie Wojcik, who scored a 39.500.
Individually, junior Giana Kalefe won the beam title outright, matching her career-high 9.925 for her first event title of the season. Stephen and Smith tied for the floor title with career-high 9.950s, with Smith earning her second title on the event this season and Stephen earning her first career floor title.
MSU won all four events in Lincoln, posted four scores in the 9.900s on floor for the first time this season and also earned three scores of 9.900 or better on vault.
REGULAR SEASON TITLE ON THE LINE
The Spartans can clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a win on Monday. MSU currently sits in a tie for first with Michigan (both at 7-1) in the conference standings with two regular season meets in the league remaining - MSU's matchup at Illinois and a dual meet between Michigan and Nebraska, also on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. Wins for MSU and Michigan in Monday's meets would result in a tie for the regular season crown. The regular season title would mark the first in program history for the Spartans, who finished a program-best third in the regular season in 2022. The conference began awarding the regular season title in 2013.
A win for MSU on Monday would also guarantee the No. 1 seed for the Spartans at the Big Ten Championships regardless of Monday's Michigan-Nebraska result, as MSU holds the tiebreaker over Michigan from its dual meet win against the Wolverines on Jan. 22.
SPARTAN ALL-AROUNDERS
The Spartans all-around trio of Skyla Schulte, Gabi Stephen and Nikki Smith is one of the strongest in the nation, each gymnast earning at least one all-around title this season. Stephen (39.440 NQS) and Schulte (39.375 NQS) have competed in the all-around every meet this season, while Smith (39.295 NQS) has competed in the all-around in every meet except the Spartans' opener at Alabama, where she competed on every event but beam.
UP NEXT
MSU travels to Ypsilanti, Michigan for a tri-meet against Eastern Michigan and LIU on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m. MSU then hosts Bowling Green and LIU in its annual Pink Meet for breast cancer awarness on Sunday, March 5 at Jenison Field House, beginning at 1 p.m.
Monday's meet will stream on B1G+. Live results will be available on MSUSpartans.com.
Originally scheduled for Feb. 17, Monday is the second meet back for the Spartans since a mass shooting on the East Lansing Campus on Monday, Feb. 13, when three students were killed and five were hospitalized. Michigan State students returned to class on Monday, Feb. 20.
THE MATCHUP
The Spartans enter Saturday's meet at 8-2 (7-1 B1G) after a record-setting performance at the Big Five Meet on Saturday, Feb. 25 in Lincoln, Nebraska. MSU, earning its second-consecutive Big Five victory, topped No. 13 Ohio State, No. 18 Minnesota, Nebraska and Rutgers en route to a program-record 197.675 team overall score. The Spartans earned the highest team score among the two sessions over the weekend. No. 3 Michigan won the first session Friday night with a score of 197.100. MSU ranks 13th in the Week 8 Road to Nationals rankings with a national qualifying score of 196.910.
Illinois (8-7, 4-4 B1G), ranked 24th in the Week 8 rankings, competed in the first session of the Big Five Meet on Friday, Feb. 24. The Illini finished with a season-best score of 196.825, topping Penn State and Maryland and falling to Michigan and Iowa. Illinois posts an NQS of 196.490.
Michigan State and Illinois last met in dual meet action on Feb. 13, 2022, with the Spartans earning a 197.425-196.450 win in East Lansing.
LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans' 197.675 broke the previous record of 197.650 set at the NCAA Seattle Regional Finals on April 2, 2022. MSU also set a program record on vault with a 49.525, surpassing its 49.400 earned on Jan. 22 this season vs. Michigan and at the NCAA Seattle Regional finals on April 2, 2022. The Spartans set season highs on beam (49.350) and floor (49.600), with their floor score ranking second all-time in program history, and scored a 49.200 on bars.
Sophomore Gabrielle Stephen won her third-straight all around title with a 39.575, tying her career high set earlier this season for the fourth-best all-around score in school history. Freshman Nikki Smith tied for second with Nebraska's Emma Spence with a career-high 39.550, beating her own sixth-best score in program history. Sophomore Schulte tied for fourth with Minnesota's Gianna Gerdes with a 39.475, tying her season high. Stephen and Smith scored the top two all-around scores among both sessions, topping Friday's winner, Michigan's Natalie Wojcik, who scored a 39.500.
Individually, junior Giana Kalefe won the beam title outright, matching her career-high 9.925 for her first event title of the season. Stephen and Smith tied for the floor title with career-high 9.950s, with Smith earning her second title on the event this season and Stephen earning her first career floor title.
MSU won all four events in Lincoln, posted four scores in the 9.900s on floor for the first time this season and also earned three scores of 9.900 or better on vault.
REGULAR SEASON TITLE ON THE LINE
The Spartans can clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a win on Monday. MSU currently sits in a tie for first with Michigan (both at 7-1) in the conference standings with two regular season meets in the league remaining - MSU's matchup at Illinois and a dual meet between Michigan and Nebraska, also on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. Wins for MSU and Michigan in Monday's meets would result in a tie for the regular season crown. The regular season title would mark the first in program history for the Spartans, who finished a program-best third in the regular season in 2022. The conference began awarding the regular season title in 2013.
A win for MSU on Monday would also guarantee the No. 1 seed for the Spartans at the Big Ten Championships regardless of Monday's Michigan-Nebraska result, as MSU holds the tiebreaker over Michigan from its dual meet win against the Wolverines on Jan. 22.
SPARTAN ALL-AROUNDERS
The Spartans all-around trio of Skyla Schulte, Gabi Stephen and Nikki Smith is one of the strongest in the nation, each gymnast earning at least one all-around title this season. Stephen (39.440 NQS) and Schulte (39.375 NQS) have competed in the all-around every meet this season, while Smith (39.295 NQS) has competed in the all-around in every meet except the Spartans' opener at Alabama, where she competed on every event but beam.
UP NEXT
MSU travels to Ypsilanti, Michigan for a tri-meet against Eastern Michigan and LIU on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m. MSU then hosts Bowling Green and LIU in its annual Pink Meet for breast cancer awarness on Sunday, March 5 at Jenison Field House, beginning at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
VT, BB, FX
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All-Around
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