After a disappointing showing last week at San Jose State, the Sacramento State gymnastics team has a chance to avenge its loss to the Spartans on Friday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. The meet will be the third home contest for the Hornets this season where they are 2-0 this year.

Last week, Sacramento State started off strong through the first two rotations but falls on both floor and beam proved costly as SJSU rallied for a 191.950-189.500 victory at Spartan Gym. The Hornets claimed three individual titles in the meet but were not consistent over the final two rotations where they counted four falls on both events.

With the loss to the Spartans, Sacramento State is 3-6 on the season and currently averaging 190.500. However, the Hornets have shown their potential this year, scoring 192.275 at the Cal State Fullerton four-team meet and also at home against Seattle Pacific with a 191.600.

San Jose State is a perfect 3-0 with wins over Cal State Fullerton, Seattle Pacific and Sacramento State. The Spartans have been consistent in their three meets, scoring 191.575, 190.850 and 191.950. SJSU is led by sophomore Greta Leach who currently leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on beam and all-around (38.725). Senior Jennifer Greene is tied for second on the floor (9.900).

Overall, the schools have been the top two teams in the MPSF since the league’s inception three season ago. Sacramento State won the first two MPSF titles before falling to SJSU last season.

• Head Coach Kim Hughes

In his 25th year at the helm of the Hornet gymnastics program, head coach Kim Hughes has built a program from the ground up and has solidified Sacramento State as a contender in the NCAA West Region and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

With a career record of 201-190-2, Hughes led the Hornets to back-to-back MPSF Championships in 2002 and 2003 before finishing second last season. He also directed Sacramento State to consecutive Western Independent Championships in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, Sacramento State recorded program highs with consecutive meets above 193 (four), most scores over the 194-plateau (four) and most scores over the 193-mark (eight) in a season. Those statistics helped Hughes earn the MPSF Coach of the Year award.

In 2004, Hughes led the team to its two best scores in school history. The top mark of 195.875 came at the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational at Oregon State. The team also set program records on the vault, beam and floor last season.

Among his other accomplishments, Hughes guided Sacramento State to a second-place finish at the National Invitational Tournament in 2000 and gave the program its first regional bid in 1999 while also being named NCAA Region 1 Coach of the Year.

Hughes earned his first Coach of the Year honor in 1984 when the Hornets were a member of the Div. II Northern California Athletic Conference. A graduate of Chico State in 1976, Hughes joined the Sacramento State women’s gymnastics program in 1977 and was named head coach in 1981. During his tenure, Hughes also guided the Hornets to Div. I status in 1992.

• Leading the Way

Sacramento State has shown its potential to be the best team in the MPSF with some strong performances this season. The Hornets currently own the highest score by any MPSF school with a 192.275. The team also has recorded the highest score on vault (48.975), bars (48.375) and floor (48.750). Beam is the only event in which Sacramento State does not rank first in the league. That event is led by SJSU with a 48.250.

Based on season average, the Hornets lead the MPSF on vault (48.310), are third on bars (47.495) and beam (46.865) and fourth on floor (47.830)

Individually, senior Jessica Hoffman ranks second in the league with a vault average of 9.760. Senior Nirvana Zaher is third at 9.730 and freshman Nicole Giao is fourth at 9.690. On floor, Stefanie Aeder leads the conference with an average of 9.860. That mark also ranks second in the West Region among gymnasts who have competed in more than one meet and is the 14th-best average in the country.

• Coming Off the Mat

Just five days after injuring her neck, senior Meloney Greer returned to the Hornet lineup and finished second on bars at San Jose State. The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, native was injured at the UCLA meet when she fell during her release move prior to the competition. For precautionary measures, Greer was placed on a backboard and transported to the UCLA Medical Center for further evaluation. Luckily, there was no major damage but doctors warned that she would be extremely sore during the week. Greer stunned the coaching staff by returning to practice midweek and then convinced them to place her in the lineup. Once there, she scored 9.750. The only adjustment Greer made was removing that specific release element from her routine — giving her the exact routine that took her to the NCAA West Regional last year.

• Three Out of Five Ain’t Bad

Tsurumoto and Aeder each found themselves in a familiar position on Friday, accepting first place for their respective events. The pair have each won three individual titles this year in the team’s five meets.

Tsurumoto, who redshirted last season after injuring her knee, has shown little signs of rust on bars during her first collegiate season. The Concord, Calif., native opened her career by winning at Cal State Fullerton and at home against Seattle Pacific. She snapped her streak with a fall against Brown but bounced back with a solid showing at UCLA. Last week, Tsurumoto scored 9.800 to win bars and raise her season average to 9.540. With the exception of the fall, all of our scores have been above 9.550.

Aeder continued her domination of the floor exercise with a 9.850 at San Jose State. The senior, who reached the NCAA West Regional last season, has been the model of consistency this year. Four of her scores are above 9.850 with her “low” score being a 9.750. The only two meets in which Aeder has not owned the top score came at Cal State Fullerton and UCLA where the winning scores were both 10.000.

• News and Notes

Sacramento State competed without an all-arounder for the first time this season…freshman Amber Basgall made her Hornet debut with an exhibition bars performance at SJSU. Basgall scored 9.375…freshman Melissa Genovese recorded her career high with a 9.600 on beam…junior Kimiye Narasaki, who was the last Hornet regular not to fall on beam, tumbled at SJSU resulting in a 9.075…the Hornets scored 48+ on both vault and bars for the first time this season in the same meet.