The Ball State University gymnastics team lost 191.900 to 193.000 to Eastern Michigan University on Sunday evening.
High scores for the Cardinals included a first-place tie on the vault between Ashley Jacobs and Brittney Emmons with a score of 9.80. Emmons added another first-place tie on the floor routine with Teresa Phipps by scoring another 9.80.
The Cardinals began the competition on the uneven bars by having to count a fall from one of the six gymnasts to compete on the event.
"Nobody hit a [bar] routine well, but then they went to the vault and were on fire," coach Nadalie Walsh said. "They left the first event behind [them] and started anew and started strong. I think they did a really good job of seeing somebody have a mistake and then just moving on and forgetting about it."
The loss drops the Cardinals, 1-5 (0-5 Mid-American Conference), to last place in the MAC with one conference meet remaining in the regular season.
Though the Cardinals' regular season MAC contention no longer resounds mathematically, the firm resolve that has been evident all season long continues to announce its presence, Walsh says.
"We had a lot of 9.80s, and the girls who hit well did really well. It's nice to see them get what they deserved," Walsh said. "This was their best [team] score of the season, but it wasn't their best meet. We had to count four falls on our events, but I want them to know that they're a good team and that their hard work will pay off for them."
The Cardinals will be working with a short week, as they travel to Southeast Missouri State on Thursday. While the fewer number of days between meets this week will diverge from their customary five practices throughout the week, Walsh said the short rest may just be what her team needs.
"I'm fired up about it," Walsh said. "I want these girls to compete, compete, compete. I'm just so excited because that's what they want, they want to compete. These girls are fired up because they aren't scared of competition anymore."
The competition on the balance beam that had given the Cardinals trouble over the past few meets made amends with its recent troublesome nature, due in large part to the amount of time focused on shoring up the event, Walsh says.
"We worked really hard on [beam] this past week," Walsh said. "And now that it's [beam] where it needs to be, I think it's a really good turning point for us."
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