The Ball State University gymnastics team will be at Michigan State University on Sunday, but the Spartans won't be the only team competing against the Cardinals.
Also at the competition will be the Mid-American Conference's Western Michigan University.
Michigan State is the heavy favorite as it is ranked No. 19 in the national poll and will be competing at home. Ball State coach Nadalie Walsh said her team is ready and not intimidated.
"We went to Denver and they were ranked 13th, so I don't think the girls are intimidated at all," the first-year coach said.
Ball State won't be at full strength, however, for the competition. In last week's meet, Megan Howard fell on the vault and injured her knee. The diagnosis directly after the competition was a torn ACL, but following an MRI that has turned out to be false.
"It's pretty amazing ... they did a MRI and it's not a torn ACL," Walsh said. "She did something else to her knee. She still may not be able to come back this season."
While Walsh admitted the loss of Howard is a big handicap for the team, she said the team has capable replacements. Cobie Zuk will take Howard's place on the beam, and Nina Fogle will perform on the vault in place of the injured gymnast.
The Cardinals have already competed against Western Michigan this season. In the season opener Ball State lost in Kalamazoo, Mich., 189.825-185.450. However, after back-to-back meets in which the Cardinals set a season-high score, Walsh said, she looks forward to seeing Western Michigan again.
"Even if we can't beat Michigan State we can maybe beat Western Michigan and show them what we can do even without our top lineup," she said. " ... It would be really good to go in and show them we are a lot better than we were at the beginning of the year."
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