The gymnastics team dropped a head-to-head meet against the Central Michigan University Chippewas Friday 196.250-195.275 This matchup was the Huskies’ final regular season meet before the Mid-American Conference Championships.

Head Coach Sam Morreale said he was pleased with the team’s performance even with the loss.

“I was really happy with how we performed,” Morreale said. “It was a pretty loud, tough environment. [There was] a lot of pressure going into this meet just based [finishing] the regular season. We handled the pressure and the environment very well.”

The Huskies began on the uneven parallel bars, finishing with a  score of 48.700, just under the Chippewas’ score of 48.925.

Junior Amanda Bartemio was the top Huskie finisher placing third with a score of 9.00. Chippewas’ junior Gianna Plaksa and junior Denelle Pedrick took home home first and second respectively with scores of 9.875 and 9.850.

The Huskies dropped their second event of the meet dropping the vault 49.325-48.925. Junior Cinny Lamberti led NIU placing fourth with a mark of 9.850.

CMU junior Sydney Williams and Pedrick placed first and second in the event with scores of 9.925 and 9.900 respectively. First-year Sierra Demarinis helped solidify the Chippewas event win by placing third with a 9.875.

On the floor exercise, the Huskies came the closest to winning an event, but fell 49.075-48.950 to CMU.

Senior Anna Martucci was the top finisher for NIU, placing second in the event with a score of 9.900, just under the career high of 9.975 she set last season. Taking home the event victory was Pedrick of Central Michigan with a top score of 9.925.

Morreale said he is used to such a high performance from Martucci, and will miss her talent when she leaves.

“It was typical [Martucci], going out with a bang,” Morreale said. “She’s a super talented athlete and we’ll miss her and the other seniors a bunch when they graduate. It was really good to see her end like that.”

The Huskies dropped the balance beam to secure the event sweep for CMU. The Chippewas came out with a 48.925-48.700 victory over NIU.

Junior Allison Richardson along with Chippewa senior Skyler Memmel and Pedrick, all tied for first with scores of 9.850

Morreale said he doesn’t want the team to be discouraged by the loss and wants them learn from this meet.

“[I want the team to] build off this and take the positives and move forward,” Morreale said. “Believe in ourselves and continue to make [the meets] feel like a practice.”

With the regular season in the rear-view mirror, the Huskies return to action 2 p.m. Saturday for the MAC Championships in the Convocation Center.