SPU's gymnastics team took another tumble last Friday, losing their fourth straight meet of the season.

The Falcons competed on the road against the Sacramento State Hornets (CSUS), losing by a score of 185.200 to 191.975. Their record now stands at 0-4.

"The scores were quite a bit lower than what we've been seeing," head coach Laurel Tindall said of the meet.

Senior Christie Chinaka said that, as a team, they did not hit as many routines as they would have liked.

No Falcon gymnast was a match for Sacramento's Marina Borisova, who placed first in the uneven bars, floor exercise and the all-around competition. Borisova scored a 9.875 on the bars, a 9.875 on the floor and won the whole competition with her score of 38.150.

Freshman Brianna Steigauf was the lone Falcon gymnast to reach the podium Friday evening. She tied for third on the floor exercise with CSUS gymnast Eryn Stubblefield, scoring a 9.725.

"Bri [Steigauf] had a really good night on floor. She's really been improving every meet," Chinaka said.

The Falcons have been struggling this season with floor exercise routines, but the Falcons earned a 46.425 on the event. That is the best team score on floor all season, Tindall said.

Freshman Betsy Snook had a good showing for SPU, Tindall said. Snook achieved a 9.175 in her floor exercise routine, but her score did not factor into SPU's final tally because she was an exhibition competitor on Friday night.

"We did better on floor than we've been doing. We had more people that did the things right," Chinaka said, such as staying in bounds and sticking landings. Chinaka does agree, however, that the team can keep improving in this area.

The best event of the night for the Falcons was on the balance beam. The Falcons earned a 46.700 as a team. Tindall mentioned that there was a fall made on bars, which hurt the overall score in that rotation.

Junior Brianna Schwartz, who was sidelined earlier in the season because of a back injury, competed on the bars for the Falcons for the second week in a row while freshman Laura Willis sat out again this week after a fall on the vault two weeks prior.

Though the overall scores were lower than normal, Chinaka said the season is more than a win-and-loss record.

"For us, winning and losing is not an issue," Chinaka said. "We're always competing against schools that are better than us. We're Division II and most of the schools we face are Division I. We always have to work on our consistency, and we need to get more numbers in practice."

Chinaka said it is tough to have expectations with such a young team, but they are at the point where they are really working on filling out the lineup, sharpening all skills and understanding what to expect out of people.

"They're staying very positive," Tindall said of the SPU women this season. "I'd like them to do a little better on floor, but they are making improvements."

Tindall said a good number of the team members are making an extra effort to improve.

"Yesterday, they came home and got off the shuttle, and eight or nine of them stayed and did some cardio...Three of them came in today [Sunday] and did the same," Tindall said.

The Falcons are looking to go to nationals as they approach the halfway mark of the season, Tindall said, though she admitted that they are "on the bubble" this year when it comes to post-season competition.

The Falcons face Oregon State University and Stanford University in Corvallis, Ore., in their fifth meet of the season on Friday night.