Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team falls to NIU

The visiting Northern Illinois Huskies posted a 195.400 to top the Southeast gymnastics team's 193.300 on Friday night at Houck Field House.

Redhawks sophomore Ashley Thomas claimed the all-around title with a 39.025 over teammate Chelsi Hamilton. No Huskies competed in the all-around.

"Ultimately, I'm proud of our team for coming back on floor after a tough beam rotation," coach Kristi Ewasko said in a press release. "We had a few uncharacteristic mistakes that we will focus on minimizing and eliminating from here on out."

The balance beam was Southeast's third rotation on the night, and the Redhawks scored a meet-low 47.650. Junior Taylor Penzien competed in the event for the first time and led the Redhawks with a 9.775. The Huskies finished with a 48.925 on the beam, and Amanda Stepp (9.875) and Ashley Potts (9.800) finished first and second individually in the event.

The Redhawks posted a 48.525 on the floor exercise in their final rotation, and were led by Chelsi Hamilton with a 9.775. NIU scored 48.825 in the event and Courtney Dowdell and Brittany Wenzel's 9.825 and 9.800, respectively, were good for the title and runner-up.

Southeast started the meet with a 48.500 on vault. Thomas' 9.850 tied for the event title with Stepp, and freshman Alexis Brawner scored a 9.800. The Redhawks scored 48.625 on the uneven bars and Penzien tied for second with a 9.800.

NIU posted scores of 48.850 and 48.800 on the vault and bars, respectively.

Southeast faces Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, next Saturday.

Tennis

The Southeast tennis team remains winless on the season after a 7-0 loss at Northern Illinois on Friday and a 5-2 loss to Chicago State on Saturday.

Sophomore Annisa Warasanti won the first set at the No. 6 spot against NIU, but lost after a tiebreaker, and the Redhawks were defeated in straight sets in the other five singles matches.

The No. 1 doubles match went unfinished and the Huskies won at the No. 2 and 3 spots 6-2 and 6-4.

Freshman Maria Montenegro secured her first singles win of the season against Chicago State in the No. 5 match with a 7-5, 6-1 decision.

Freshmen Mariya Kostyuk and Viviana Ortiz won the No. 1 doubles match 8-2. Freshmen Anna Makhneva and Kateryna Stoianova were defeated 8-3 in No. 2 doubles, but senior Melissa Martin and Warasanti secured the doubles point for Southeast with a 7-7, 1-0 (7-1) win.

The Redhawks (0-7) face Illinois-Chicago on the road at 11 a.m. today.