Gymnastics got conference play underway with a statement win Friday.

The Huskies (1-1, 1-0 MAC) beat Ball State (2-4, 0-1 MAC) 192.05-188.825 at Victor E. Court. NIU swept the meet. Head coach Sam Morreale was pleased with his team’s performance coming off its Jan. 11 loss to Nebraska on Jan 11.

“I thought we did well,” Morreale said. “I thought … we did a lot of things better than we did at Nebraska, so I was happy with that. We’re coming along; we’re making strides. We still have things to fix. We’ve still got to get better. I was really, really proud of how we got the job done again.”

On vault, the Huskies won the event 48.275-48. Sophomore Jaelyn Olsen led all vaulters with a score of 9.775, the highest score of the meet. Ball State’s Erin Patchey tied with NIU freshman Courtney Dowdell with a 9.7 for second in the event.

“I didn’t really think about it,” Olsen said. “I just thought about hitting my routines. Do what we do in practice, focus on landing and focus on the details. It all came together.

“This is just the beginning of the season. My expectations are higher than …. what [my scores are now]. I hope to improve every single meet.”

NIU continued to perform well on uneven bars. Despite a heel injury, Megan Melendez won the event with a score of 9.725. Angela Durkac of the Cardinals placed second with a 9.7. Kim Gotlund and Dowdell tied for third with a score of 9.675. The Huskies won the event 48-47.1.

The beam continued to be a trouble spot for NIU, despite the Huskies winning the event 47.725-46.025. Olsen continued her strong meet by posting a 9.7 to win.

“We put a lot of work into beam; we put a lot of work into all our events,” Morreale said. “Beam is just one of those mental events where sometimes it just gets you. We just got to keep plodding away at it. When we do our pressure stuff in the gym, we’re fine on beam. There’s no worry.”

Gotlund stood out on the floor exercises with a 9.7. Ball State’s Denasiha Christian won the event with a score of 9.75. NIU won the event 48.05-47.7 securing the sweep.

Gotlund finished with a meet-high all-around score of 38.6. Dowdell finished with a score of 38.075 after subbing in for Melendez on beam.

“I just prepared all my routines in practice,” said Dowdell. “You compete the way you practice. I just figured if you do like you did in practice, I’ll be good. That’s probably why I wasn’t as nervous as most people would be. I didn’t hit four for four; I fell on beam. I know that’s only the start, and the best is yet to come.”