Sunday, March 2
Coralville, Iowa
7 PM ET/6 PM CT
Michigan State University
at
Iowa
Photo by: Kelly Branigan
No. 7 Spartans Close Conference Action at Big Four Meet Sunday
2/27/2025 3:39:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
CORALVILLE, Iowa -Â No. 7 Michigan State gymnastics wraps up conference action on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET, taking on No. 25 Penn State, Iowa and Washington at the Big Four Meet at Iowa's Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Sunday's meet will air on Big Ten Network with Connor Onion (play-by-play) and JaNay Honest (analyst) on the call.
MSU's Big Four Meet will be the final meet of three taking place over the weekend in the conference. Final conference standings and Big Ten Championships seeding will be determined at the conclusion of the meet. With a win, the Spartans can finish no lower than second.
NOTABLES
The Spartans enter Sunday's meet at 8-2 (5-1 B1G) after a 197.475-196.275 home win over Rutgers on Feb. 15. MSU ranks seventh, its eighth-straight week inside the top 10, in the Week 8 RoadtoNationals rankings with an NQS of 197.135. In the national event rankings, MSU ranks third on vault (49.405), ninth on bars (49.310), 15th on beam (49.17) and in a tie for 12th on floor (49.315).
For the third time this season, MSU won at least a share of every event and the all-around title against Rutgers. Senior Gabrielle Stephen won the all-around title with a season high 39.500 to earn Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors, the third of her career and first since 2023, earlier this week. Junior Olivia Zsarmani won her third vault title of the season (9.950), juniors Sage Kellerman and Nikki Smith shared the bars title (9.950), Giana Kalefe collected the beam title (9.950) and senior Skyla Schulte captured the floor title, her fifth of the season. Kellerman's bars title was her fifth of 2025 and Kalefe's beam title was her first of the season.
MSU scored a 49.575 on bars against Rutgers to set a new season high and tie for the second-best score in program history on the event. Kellerman and Smith's 9.950s were highest score on bars by a Spartan so far this season, while Kellerman's title on the event was her fifth in MSU's last six meets. The Spartans' 49.575 is also tied for the fourth-best team score on bars in the country this season.
Five Spartans have combined for seven NCAA top-25 individual rankings in after Week 8 of the season. MSU has three gymnasts in the top 15 on vault - Smith (No. 3), Kellerman (No. 10), and Zsarmani (No. 14), while Kellerman is also ranked in the top 10 on bars (No. 8). Schulte's 9.900 NQS on floor puts her in a tie for 16th on the event. The Spartans also have a pair of all-arounders in the national top 15 - Smith (No. 13) and Stephen (No. 14), who also rank first and second in the conference all-around standings, respectively.Â
THE MATCHUP
MSU will look to secure a Big Four victory for the fourth-straight season this weekend after winning the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions of the Big Five Meet.Â
Penn State is the second-highest ranked team in the meet behind MSU at No. 25, while Iowa is No. 32 and Washington is No. 37. The Nittany Lions (9-3) sit in a tie for fourth in the conference standings alongside Michigan (4-2). Iowa is 3-7 overall and 3-3 in the B1G and Washington is 2-9 and 0-6.
The Spartans are facing Iowa in regular season action for the first time since a 197.400-195.700 home victory on Jan. 28 last season and will meet the Nittany Lions in the regular season for the first time since a 197.475-195.950 road win Jan. 19 on last season. MSU will meet Washington for the first time since the 2022 NCAA Seattle Regional Second Round and first ever as a Big Ten foe. In dual action, MSU is 0-2 against the Huskies, having last met in East Lansing in what was a 193.175-191.875 victory for the Huskies on Jan. 6, 2012. The Spartans' last loss to the Hawkeyes came on Feb. 11, 2023, while the Spartans have not dropped a result to the Nittany Lions since the 2020 Big Five Meet.Â
UP NEXT
The Spartans travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for a nationally-televised podium meet, Elevate the Stage, against Alabama, California and North Carolina on Sunday, March 9 at 5 p.m. ET. The meet will air on ACC Network.
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Sunday's meet will air on Big Ten Network with Connor Onion (play-by-play) and JaNay Honest (analyst) on the call.
MSU's Big Four Meet will be the final meet of three taking place over the weekend in the conference. Final conference standings and Big Ten Championships seeding will be determined at the conclusion of the meet. With a win, the Spartans can finish no lower than second.
NOTABLES
The Spartans enter Sunday's meet at 8-2 (5-1 B1G) after a 197.475-196.275 home win over Rutgers on Feb. 15. MSU ranks seventh, its eighth-straight week inside the top 10, in the Week 8 RoadtoNationals rankings with an NQS of 197.135. In the national event rankings, MSU ranks third on vault (49.405), ninth on bars (49.310), 15th on beam (49.17) and in a tie for 12th on floor (49.315).
For the third time this season, MSU won at least a share of every event and the all-around title against Rutgers. Senior Gabrielle Stephen won the all-around title with a season high 39.500 to earn Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors, the third of her career and first since 2023, earlier this week. Junior Olivia Zsarmani won her third vault title of the season (9.950), juniors Sage Kellerman and Nikki Smith shared the bars title (9.950), Giana Kalefe collected the beam title (9.950) and senior Skyla Schulte captured the floor title, her fifth of the season. Kellerman's bars title was her fifth of 2025 and Kalefe's beam title was her first of the season.
MSU scored a 49.575 on bars against Rutgers to set a new season high and tie for the second-best score in program history on the event. Kellerman and Smith's 9.950s were highest score on bars by a Spartan so far this season, while Kellerman's title on the event was her fifth in MSU's last six meets. The Spartans' 49.575 is also tied for the fourth-best team score on bars in the country this season.
Five Spartans have combined for seven NCAA top-25 individual rankings in after Week 8 of the season. MSU has three gymnasts in the top 15 on vault - Smith (No. 3), Kellerman (No. 10), and Zsarmani (No. 14), while Kellerman is also ranked in the top 10 on bars (No. 8). Schulte's 9.900 NQS on floor puts her in a tie for 16th on the event. The Spartans also have a pair of all-arounders in the national top 15 - Smith (No. 13) and Stephen (No. 14), who also rank first and second in the conference all-around standings, respectively.Â
THE MATCHUP
MSU will look to secure a Big Four victory for the fourth-straight season this weekend after winning the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions of the Big Five Meet.Â
Penn State is the second-highest ranked team in the meet behind MSU at No. 25, while Iowa is No. 32 and Washington is No. 37. The Nittany Lions (9-3) sit in a tie for fourth in the conference standings alongside Michigan (4-2). Iowa is 3-7 overall and 3-3 in the B1G and Washington is 2-9 and 0-6.
The Spartans are facing Iowa in regular season action for the first time since a 197.400-195.700 home victory on Jan. 28 last season and will meet the Nittany Lions in the regular season for the first time since a 197.475-195.950 road win Jan. 19 on last season. MSU will meet Washington for the first time since the 2022 NCAA Seattle Regional Second Round and first ever as a Big Ten foe. In dual action, MSU is 0-2 against the Huskies, having last met in East Lansing in what was a 193.175-191.875 victory for the Huskies on Jan. 6, 2012. The Spartans' last loss to the Hawkeyes came on Feb. 11, 2023, while the Spartans have not dropped a result to the Nittany Lions since the 2020 Big Five Meet.Â
UP NEXT
The Spartans travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for a nationally-televised podium meet, Elevate the Stage, against Alabama, California and North Carolina on Sunday, March 9 at 5 p.m. ET. The meet will air on ACC Network.
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Players Mentioned
VT, BB, FX
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