No. 13 MSU Travels to Ypsilanti for EMU Tri-Meet Friday

*** NOTE: The meet start time was changed to 1 p.m. due to inclement weather in the forecast.***

YPSILANTI, Mich. - Michigan State gymnastics travels to Ypsilanti, Michigan for a tri-meet with Eastern Michigan and Long Island University on Friday, March 3. Action gets underway at 1 p.m. from the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

Live results will be available at MSUSpartans.com. A live stream will not be available.

THE MATCHUP
MSU enters Saturday's meet at 9-2 (8-1 B1G) after topping No. 24 Illinois 197.450-196.425 earlier this week on Monday, Feb. 27. With its win on Monday, MSU earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Michigan, the Spartans' first regular-season title in program history. The Spartans rank 13th in the Week 8 Road to Nationals rankings with a national qualifying score of 197.120.

Eastern Michigan (0-13, 0-5 MAC) posts a 194.370 NQS and is coming off a 195.750-195.450 loss at Kent State on Feb. 26. The Eagles' 195.450 marked their highest team score of the season. Junior Raisa Boris, EMU'S top all-arounder, won the all-around and floor titles with a 39.200 and 9.900 in the Eagles' loss vs. Kent State. Boris posts season highs of 9.825 (vault), 9.900 (bars), 9.825 (beam) and 9.000 (floor).

Friday will be the first of two matchups with LIU for the Spartans this weekend, who host Bowling Green and LIU in a tri-meet on Saturday at Jenison Field House. The Sharks (8-8-1, 0-5-1 EAGL) post an NQS of 195.140 and most recently placed second in a tri-meet with NC State and Temple on Feb. 26 with a score of 195.650. After starting the season with two scores in the 194.000s and a 192.875, LIU has earned a 195.000-plus score in its last five meets. Freshman Syd Morris is a two-time EAGL Rookie of the Week and broke the program's all-around record with a 39.300 in the Shark's tri-meet with NC State and Temple.

MSU and EMU last met on March 7, 2020, with the Spartans earning a 195.875-194.200 victory at Jenison Field House. Friday will be the first meeting between MSU and LIU, as the Sharks are in their third year as an NCAA program.

LAST TIME OUT
MSU's 197.450 at Illinois tied its second-best team overall score this season. The Spartans won the vault (49.100), bars (49.350) and floor (49.550) team titles at Illinois and set a season-high score of 49.450 on beam.

Individually, sophomore Gabrielle Stephen and freshman Nikki Smith tied for the all-around title with 39.525s. Stephen's win marked her fourth-straight all-around title. MSU also picked up three individual event titles, with junior Delanie Harkness winning bars (9.925), Stephen winning vault (9.850) and Smith winning floor with a 9.975. Smith's floor score tied for the best score on the event in MSU history and earned a 10.0 from one judge.

Stephen and Smith were rewarded for their performances with weekly awards from Big Ten on Wednesday, as Stephen earned her first-career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award and Smith collected her fourth Freshman of the Week honor.

FRIDAY REUNIONS
Eastern Michigan's head coach Katie Minasola and LIU's head coach Randy Lane are both former Michigan State assistant coaches. Minasola (née Teft) served as an assistant from 2004-11, while Lane was an associate head coach from 2007-11. Both Minasola and Lane coached current MSU associate head coach Nicole (Curler) Jones, who was a gymnast at MSU from 2007-10.

UP NEXT
MSU hosts Bowling Green and LIU at Jenison Field House on Sunday, March 5 at 1 p.m. for the team's annual Pink Meet for breast cancer awareness. Fans who wear pink will receive free admission. Live results will be available on MSUSpartans.com with streaming on B1G+.