No. 15 Huskers Edge Kentucky

Lexington, Ky. ? The No. 15 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team earned a nail-biting 194.35-194.25 win over Kentucky Friday night at UK’s Memorial Coliseum. In front of 2,047 fans, two NU gymnasts combined for four event titles, and the Huskers improved to 5-3 on the season.

 

Senior Emily Parsons won three individual event titles, finishing first on vault (9.95), floor (9.925) and the all-around (39.275). Senior Desire’ Sniatynski also won the beam title with a 9.85 and took runner-up honors in the all-around (39.175).

 

“Emily and Desire’ really came up big tonight,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said. “As our two seniors, that’s what we expect from them, but they really delivered when it counted. When you look at the difference in the meet, we needed every last bit of what we could get. They were true leaders tonight.”

 

Nebraska opened the meet on bars, where Sniatynski led the way with a score of 9.775 for runner-up honors. Parsons followed up with a 9.75 for third, and Scaffidi and Habbib tied for fifth with a pair of 9.675 marks. The Huskers were forced to count a fall with Kathryn Howard’s 9.025, earning a team total of 47.90 to Kentucky’s first-rotation vault total of 49.00.

 

NU continued on to vault, where Parsons set the pace with a 9.95 to take the event title. Sniatynski finished fourth with a 9.825, followed by Davis’ sixth-place 9.75. Scaffidi contributed a 9.725, and freshman Brittnee Habbib returned to the vault lineup for the first time in a month with a 9.475. Nebraska wrapped up vault with a 48.725 and a running score of 96.625 behind UK’s 97.375 at the halfway point.

 

The Huskers moved on to floor, and Parsons was the team’s top performer with a 9.925 for top honors. Woo added a fourth-place 9.825, while Davis scored a 9.75 in just her second floor routine of the year. Sniatynski put up a 9.725, and Scaffidi and Habbib earned scores of 9.70 and 9.65, respectively, helping NU to a 48.85 and a running score of 145.475 to move ahead of the Wildcats (145.15) heading into the final event.

 

Nebraska capped the evening on beam, where Sniatynski tallied a 9.85 for her second beam win of the year. Woo added a second-place 9.825, and Howard finished with a 9.80 for third. Scaffidi placed fifth with a 9.675, while Parsons earned a 9.65, and NU totaled an event score of 48.80 and a final team total of 194.35 for a narrow win over Kentucky (194.25).

 

“This was a good team win tonight,” Kendig said. “We didn’t have the total meet, but to rally back after how far we were behind after the first rotation and come out on top is a tribute to this team’s tenacity. We have to get off on a better foot with our first event, but I think we’re learning from it. I want to see our athletes gain a little more confidence this week in practice heading up to our meet at Stanford.”

 

Nebraska returns to action next Friday, March 7, for a triangular at No. 7 Stanford with No. (rank) Alabama in Palo Alto, Calif. Competition is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. (CST) at Maples Pavilion.

 

Name                                     Vault      Bars       Beam     Floor       All-Around

Erin Davis                             9.75        ---            ---            9.75        ---

Brittnee Habbib                    9.475      9.675      9.625      9.65        38.425

Kathryn Howard                   ---            9.025      9.80       

Sabrina Long                       ---            ---            ---            ---            ---

Vanessa Meloche               ---            ---            ---            ---            ---

Emily Parsons                     9.95        9.75        9.65        9.925      39.275

Maria Scaffidi                        9.725      9.675      9.675      9.65        38.775

Stephanie Seich                  ---            ---            ---            ---            ---

Desire’ Sniatynski              9.825      9.775      9.85        9.725      39.175

Kylie Stone                            ---            ---            ---            ---            ---

Brittney Williams                  ---            ---            ---            ---            ---

Tricia Woo                             9.20        ---            9.825      9.80        ---

 

Team Scores                       Vault      Bars       Beam     Floor       Total

Nebraska                       48.725   47.90      48.80      48.925   194.35

Kentucky                        49.00      48.375   47.775   49.10      194.25

 

All-Around: 1. Emily Parsons, NU (39.275); 2. Desire’ Sniatynski, NU (39.175); 3. Emilie Rymer, UK (39.025); 4. Hillary Ferguson, UK (38.85); 5. Maria Scaffidi, NU (38.775)

 

Vault: 1. Emily Parsons, NU (9.95); Hillary Ferguson, UK (9.90); 3. Emily Green, UK (9.875); 4. Desire’ Sniatynski, NU (9.825); 5. Emilie Rymer, UK (9.80

 

Bars: 1. Crissy Cannon, UK (9.80); 2. Desire’ Sniatynski, NU (9.775); 3. Emily Parsons, NU (9.75); 4. Emilie Rymer, UK (9.70); Brittnee Habbib, NU (9.675), Maria Scaffidi, NU (9.675)

 

Beam: 1. Desire’ Sniatynski, NU (9.85); 2. Tricia Woo, NU (9.825); 3. Kathryn Howard, NU (9.80); 4. Emilie Rymer, UK (9.775); 5. Maria Scaffidi, NU (9.675), Madison Snowden, UK (9.675)

 

Floor: 1. Emily Parsons, NU (9.925); 2. Heather Hite, UK (9.90); 3. Madison Snowden, UK (9.85); 4. Tricia Woo, NU (9.825), Hillary Ferguson, UK (9.825)