Falcon gymnasts suffered a loss on Friday leaving them with a 1-6 season record and three games left in league play. SPU must make their move and get higher overall scores or risk sitting nationals out, senior Ashley Domres said.

The Falcons faced off against both Southern Utah University (SUU) and Boise State University (BSU) on Friday. SUU won the meet with a 194.700, and BSU was not too far behind, ending with a 194.475. SPU earned an overall score of 186.825.

"We didn't really do anything worse," head coach Laurel Tindall said of Friday's meet. However, she added, "We're stuck in this 186-187 range, and we really need to make a jump to a 189."

Strong routines from junior Brianna Schwartz and Domres on the uneven bars and from freshman Anissa Madrid on the balance beam and floor routine were not enough to erase the effects of multiple falls on the balance beam.

Domres finished the night in fourth place overall with a 36.225 and achieved a 9.800 on bars.

Schwartz walked away with a career-high score on bars, finishing with a 9.825. Schwartz tied for fourth place with Yvette Leizorek of BSU on bars, which was the highest place in any event for the Falcons on Friday.

Madrid received two season-high scores, earning a 9.675 on beam and a 9.500 on floor.

"Anissa did an exhibition routine on bars, and she did a great job. She could be in the lineup next week," Tindall said. However, because Madrid was an exhibition competitor, her score did not factor into the team's overall score in that event.

The goal is for Madrid to eventually compete in every event, Tindall said, because she is one of the best Falcon competitors on vault and beam.

Tindall said that senior Christie Chinaka, Schwartz and Domres all had "nice" and "clean" bar routines.

In spite of those strong performances, Tindall said the beam routines brought the team down.

"We started on beam, and we did really poorly on beam," Tindall said.

SPU scored a 45.100 as a team, the lowest score they've had on beam all season. In this event only two women hit their routines, Tindall said.

"We had six falls on beam, which is a lot," Domres said.

Like the balance beam, the floor exercise routines have been weak, but the Falcons have been improving, Domres said.

"We did quite a bit better on floor," Tindall said, pointing out that the team's routines were cleaner in this event. "Betsy [Snook, a freshman,] did a great job. Kelli [Bates, a red-shirt freshman] didn't have a high start value, but her routine was very clean."

As the regular season winds down, Domres said the team is continuing to work on consistency and performing in meets the same way they do in practice.

"We just need to make sure we're hitting our sets in the gym and transfer that into meets. We need to have more confidence in our routines," Domres said.

The coaches have been giving the team assignments in the gym to simulate meet situations, Domres said.

"They're [the coaches] encouraging us to eliminate the falls we've been having," Domres said. "We need to make sure we're putting ourselves in those pressure situations."

Tindall said that freshman Jennifer Lehman, who sprained her ankle a couple weeks ago in practice, is still watching from the sidelines.

"She's [Lehman] doing well. She had a pretty severe sprain. We're probably not looking for her until conference," Tindall said.

Laura Willis, also a freshman, injured her wrists in the second meet of the season. She hasn't competed since then, and Tindall isn't sure when she will return. Tindall said Willis is working hard and keeping her endurance up.

The Falcons will compete against Sacramento State and University of California, Davis this Friday in Sacramento.