Huskers Host Rutgers in Home Opener

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten)
vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (0-3, 1-0 Big Ten)

Saturday, January 23, 6 p.m. CT – Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center)
Live Stream: HuskersNSide Premium (Play-by-play: Josh Skluzacek; Analyst: Desire’ Stephens)

Huskers Host Rutgers in Home Opener

Lincoln - The 18th-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team will open its home schedule with Big Ten foe Rutgers Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center. Saturday’s meet is a part of the Double Dual, as the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team will take on Air Force, also starting at 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) opened their Big Ten slate with a win at Penn State, defeating the Nittany Lions by a score of 196.150-194.575. Hollie Blanske, a senior from Oak Grove, Minn., picked up her first individual event titles of the season, winning the floor exercise with a 9.875 routine and sharing the all-around title with a score of 39.300.

NU also got strong performances at Penn State from Jennie Laeng, who won her sixth individual event title of the season, as well as Grace Williams, who picked up her third individual event title. Laeng won the uneven bars with a score of 9.875, while Williams stuck the landing on the dismount of a strong beam routine to the tune of a 9.925, the highest score by a Husker this season.

Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig was happy with the team’s performances last Saturday and is excited to return home for two consecutive weeks.

“I was really proud of our energy and how we stayed together on the road,” Kendig said. “We’re looking forward to being home two weeks in a row and building on what we’ve done in the first two weeks.”

Saturday’s matchup will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools, with Nebraska holding a 3-0 edge. The Huskers defeated Rutgers in both the regular season and at the Big Ten Championships in 2015. NU defeated the Scarlet Knights at a quad meet in Piscataway, N.J., last season, led by Ashley Lambert’s perfect 10.00 on vault, helping the Huskers to a 196.250-195.375 victory on Jan. 24, 2015. The Huskers also defeated Rutgers, 196.875-193.125, at the 2015 Big Ten Championships. This will be the Scarlet Knights’ first-ever visit to Lincoln.

Rutgers (0-3, 0-1 Big Ten) finished third at the Little Boston Invitational to begin the season, scoring 193.100 to finish behind George Washington and New Hampshire. The Scarlet Knights opened Big Ten play last week against Illinois, falling by a score of 195.500-191.600. RU is led by junior April Baker and sophomore Libby Groden, both of whom were named to the preseason Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch List. Baker finished tied for second in vault with a 9.90 at the Little Boston Invitational. Rutgers was picked to finish 10th in the preseason Big Ten Coaches poll. The Scarlet Knights return 13 gymnasts from last year’s squad which finished 12-17.

The Huskers will begin the meet on vault before rotating to uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The meet will be streamed on HuskersNSide Premium, with Josh Skluzacek and Desire’ Stephens on the call. Live scoring will be available for the meet at huskers.com. Promotional activities for Saturday’s meet include Pepsi Pack the House, where fans can get $1 admission as well as $1 Pepsi products.

Notes to Know

Scouting Rutgers
Rutgers has fallen to each of its first three opponents to begin the season. The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 51 in the country with an average of 192.350. RU opened the year with a third-place finish at the Little Boston Invitational with New Hampshire and George Washington and dropped its Big Ten opener last week to Illinois. RU is led by junior April Baker, who owns a 9.837 average on vault, as the Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 20 in the nation on the apparatus. Rutgers is paced by Michelle Amoresano on uneven bars with an average of 9.725, while Claudia Salinas and Makenzey Shank have a team-best 9.762 average on the balance beam. Emma Hoffman leads RU on floor with a 9.787 average. Rutgers received votes in the NACGC/W Preseason Coaches Poll and was picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights return 13 gymnasts from last year’s squad which finished 12-17 and 10th at the Big Ten Championships with a score of 193.125. Baker and sophomore Libby Groden were named to the preseason Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch list. RU is led by fifth-year head coach Louis Levine, a 2002 graduate of Michigan.

Huskers Up To 18th
2016 Road to Nationals rankings will be determined by season average until February 21st. On February 22nd, the rankings will transition to RQS (regional qualifying score). Nebraska’s average of 195.100 is good for 18th in the country the week of Jan. 18, up from an average of 194.050 and a No. 31 ranking last week. The score is third-highest in the Big Ten, and fifth-highest in the South Central region. Florida holds the top spot in the nation with a 197.250 average, while Oklahoma holds the second spot with an average of 196.967. Michigan (196.950), Alabama (196.783) and UCLA (196.738) round out the top five. Rutgers is ranked 51st with an average 193.100.

Blanske Bounces Back
Senior all-arounder Hollie Blanske won her first two individual event titles of the season at Penn State, winning floor exercise with a score 9.875 and shared the all-around title with a score of 39.300. Each of her scores at Penn State were an improvement from her season-opener. She was named a first-team All-American on floor exercise and a second-team All-American in the all-around in 2015, and was a first-team All-American on balance beam in 2014.

Laeng Strong to Open Season
Junior Jennie Laeng has been one of Nebraska’s most consistent performers through the first two meets of the season, winning six event titles including the all-around at the season-opening Arizona State Triangular. Laeng won the uneven bars at Penn State with a score of 9.875, and won or shared the title in each event at Arizona State, including scores of 39.350 in the all-around, 9.85 on vault, 9.85 on uneven bars, 9.825 on balance beam and 9.825 on floor exercise. She was named Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Week for the week of Jan. 11.

Williams Shines on Bars, Beam
Sophomore Grace Williams followed up a strong performance in Nebraska’s season-opening victory at Arizona State with a beam title at Penn State, the fourth beam title of her career. She stuck the landing on her dismount, scoring a 9.925. The score is the Huskers highest individual score of the season. Williams finished second in the all-around at Arizona State with a score of 39.025, just behind teammate Jennie Laeng’s 39.350. Williams also picked up the beam title at Arizona State, scoring a 9.825, and won the first bars title of her career with a 9.85.

Freshmen Lend Helping Hand
A trio of talented freshmen have seen action and contributed for the Big Red this season. Megan Schweihofer picked up a title on balance beam at Arizona State, scoring 9.825 to tie for first with teammates Jennie Laeng and Grace Williams. Schweihofer also led the way for the Huskers on vault at Penn State, scoring a 9.80 to finish second overall. Catelyn Orel has been in the lineup for both meets this season, and hit a season-best 9.725 on bars at Penn State last week. Sienna Crouse saw her first action of the season last week at Penn State, finishing tied for fourth on floor with a 9.825 in the first routine of her collegiate career.

Big Ten Championships Ticket Information
The University of Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office has begun to sell tickets for the 2016 Big Ten Championships, hosted by Nebraska on March 19. General admission tickets for an all-day, two-session pass are $7 for adults and $5 for youth, seniors and UNL students. Children six years and younger are allowed free admission. For more information, go to huskers.com/tickets.

Television/Internet Stream Schedule
This week’s meet against Rutgers can be seen live on HuskersNSide Premium, Nebraska’s own online streaming site. To sign up, go to huskers.com. Next week’s home meet against Michigan will be shown on a one-hour delay on NET. The meet begins at 6 p.m., while the coverage starts at 7 p.m. The meet will be shown in its entirety. The Michigan meet will also be shown on Big Ten Network Monday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. CT. Nebraska’s Feb. 12 meet against Minnesota will be shown on HuskersNSide Premium, as will the Masters Classic on Feb. 27 and the Utah State dual on March 6.

Reviewing 2015
Nebraska went 28-9 in 2015, finishing eighth in the team competition at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. Three Huskers combined for four All-America Awards at the national meet, as NU made its 23rd overall appearance at the championships. The Huskers combined for 43 individual titles and numerous conference and national awards on the season, helping NU remain one of the nation’s top programs.

Senior Jessie DeZiel capped her career as one of Nebraska’s most decorated gymnasts, grabbing two All-America awards to give her nine total for her career. She was named Nebraska’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

Hollie Blanske and Ashley Lambert also captured All-America honors for the Huskers. DeZiel, Blanske, Lambert and Desire’ Stephens each captured All-Big Ten honors, while Jennie Laeng was the Big Ten co-champion on uneven bars. Nebraska continued its strong work in the classroom, as nine Huskers were named academic All-Big Ten and six were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-Americans.

Looking Ahead
The Huskers will continue competition in the Big Ten, welcoming No. 3 Michigan to the Devaney Center on Saturday, Jan. 29. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and will be televised on NET on a one-hour delay. Michigan is currently 4-0 on the season, finishing first at the season-opening Cancun Classic and adding victories over Georgia and Ohio State. The Wolverines have won three Big Ten weekly awards in each of the first three weeks of this season. Junior Nicole Artz is a two-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week this season, and is tied for fifth nationally in the all-around, averaging a 39.450. Talia Chiarelli has won Event Specialist of the Week in each of the first three weeks, and is tied for second in the country on balance beam, averaging a 9.90. Olivia Karas was this week’s Co-Gymnast of the Week and has been named Freshman of the Week each of the three weeks. Karas is tied for second in the nation on vault, averaging a 9.90. Next Saturday’s meet will be shown on NET in its entirety starting at 7 p.m. CT. The meet will also be shown on Big Ten Network Monday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. CT. The theme of the evening is Light Up the Night, as 1,500 LED bracelets will be given away at entrances.