Coming off two straight road wins, the Terrapin gymnastics team hopes to continue its winning ways tonight when it hosts Rutgers, Penn State and William & Mary for its first home quad meet of the season.
"Being on the road is hard," coach Brett Nelligan said. "It's time to come home and enjoy it."
Overcoming foreign environments to top EAGL rivals North Carolina and Pittsburgh the past two weekends, the No. 33 Terps (7-3, 3-0 EAGL) will try to stay unbeaten in conference play against Rutgers.
Rutgers posted its highest score since 2004 in last week's win over SUNY Cortland, and its fate will largely depend on the play of freshman Luisa Leal-Restrepo.
The reigning EAGL Rookie of the Week, Leal-Restrepo ranks eighth in the conference in all-around, trailing Terp senior Abigail Adams by less than a quarter of a point.
Although the Scarlet Knights rank seventh in the eight-team conference, Nelligan remains wary of the improving squad.
"They're a good squad and they're well coached," Nelligan said. "They've had a couple of upsets already this year so they can surprise you."
Presenting the Terps' biggest test, however, will be No. 18 Penn State. The Nittany Lions bested the team last season, 196.725-195.650, en route to a third-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championships.
Sophomore Sharaya Musser heads Penn State's attack this season. Topping the Big Ten in balance beam, the Colorado Springs, Colo., native is on track to earn All-America honors in that event for the second straight year.
A relative newcomer to Division I gymnastics, William & Mary has struggled to remain competitive this season. The Tribe is averaging 188.085 points, making it a distant underdog heading into tonight's meet.
More than their competition, however, the Terps will be focusing on something they've been missing for the last three weeks: their fans.
"Because we've been on the road all season, it's really important for us to come back and be in front of our home crowd," Adams said. "We're definitely going to bring the energy for them."
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