Huskies narrowly defeat EMU on senior night

Junior+gymnast+Alyssa+Al-Ashari+starting+her+beam+routine+at+the+EMU+gymnastics+meet+in+February.+Al-Ashari+earned+9.850+for+her+beam+performance.++%28Mingda+Wu+%7C+Northern+Star%29

Mingda Wu

Junior gymnast Alyssa Al-Ashari starting her beam routine at the EMU gymnastics meet in February. Al-Ashari earned 9.850 for her beam performance. (Mingda Wu | Northern Star)

By Ethan Gonzales, Sports Editor

DeKALB – A senior night victory over Eastern Michigan University helped the Huskies improve to 7-3 overall and move into sole possession of fourth place in the Mid-American Conference standings.

Seniors Gillian and Jacklyn Dolitsky, Natalie Hamp, Ciara Ryan and Brookelyn Sears were the five seniors honored on Friday evening.

The Huskies defeated the Eagles 195.350-195.075, led by strong vault performances from freshman Kiera O’Shea and sophomore Isabella Sissi. O’Shea scored a 9.875 and Sissi recorded a 9.800 on vault en route to the Huskies scoring their highest team vault score of the season at 48.950.

Hamp, Sears and junior Alyssa Al-Ashari were the top Huskie performers for the uneven parallel bars event. Hamp’s 9.850 score helped earn her fifth win on bars this season.

Al-Ashari and Sears tied for the second highest scores on beam, both scoring 9.850. Sophomore Ella Chemotti of Eastern Michigan won the event overall with a score of 9.925.

Sophomore Emmalise Nock won the floor event with a score of 9.900. Nock led the Huskies to a 49.075 team score, the best floor score of the season. Sissi finished in second behind Nock with a score of 9.875.

“We had a good day,” NIU head coach Sam Morreale said in an NIU Athletics press release. “We had some struggles early, we fought through adversity but I feel good about how we ended and we got the win.”

The Huskies will face Lindenwood University at 1 p.m. Sunday in St. Charles, Missouri.