For the third time in the last four weeks, the women’s gymnastics team has posted its season-high and sent its seniors off in fashion, as it defeated Eastern Michigan on Friday.

The Huskies (4-4, 2-3 MAC) set their highest mark of the season on vault as they topped the Eagles (3-6, 0-3 MAC) 194.775-192.550.

While the Huskies have been aiming for the prestigious and regional-necessary average of 195, the strides the team has made are not lost on head coach Sam Morreale.

“The great thing is we’re moving in the right direction,” Morreale said. “We’re fine-tuning as we’re moving down the stretch here. Even though we were a little short of our 195 goal, we still scored the high score of the year.”

NIU topped its previous high of the season, set two weeks ago, by .400.

Morreale believes that while it’s a challenging process to make those little changes, it’s also a sign of where the program is now and shows the strength of the current roster.

“At this point in the season, everything we’re trying to change are little fixes,” Morreale said. “Technically, they are the hardest things: It’s a pointed toe here or a straight leg there. The girls are just really doing a great job of focusing on the little things as we move forward.”

On Friday, the Huskies led the entire way through the meet, which was a change of pace for a team that has shown the ability to come back early on in the season. The hot start started on vault as freshman specialist Jaelyn Olsen once again led the pack for the event with her 9.825, and the vault squad tallied a season-high 48.700. Sophomore Amanda Stepp posted a career-high on vault with her 9.800, and the Eagles scored a 48.625 on vault.

Rotating to bars for the Huskies, senior honoree Natalie Sutter posted a career-high and team-leading 9.750 on the event, which also featured freshman contributions of 9.675 and 9.725 from Lauren Africano and Natalie Amadio, respectively, to tally a 48.450 team score. The Eagles managed a 47.675.

Those freshman and senior contributions show the interesting dynamic that has served the team well this season, as well as the promise for the future of the program, Morreale said.

“That’s not only great for my current team but for future,” Morreale said. “Those freshmen are getting some experience and doing really well. You get the leadership and the consistent work from the senior and the upperclassmen and the freshmen; that is what they’re learning.”

The Huskies once again got stronger as the meet wore on with a 48.700 on beam, led by juniors Megan Melendez and Natasha Jufko, scoring 9.850 and 9.825, respectively.

On the best event for the team, the floor squad continued its high-scoring ways as it posted a 48.925 with junior Kim Gotlund leading the way with a 9.825. The lowest score was a 9.750.

Despite having just two seniors, the night still held significance for Sutter and Marisa Liptak, as they competed for their final time at home, getting sent off with a victory, a season-high and contributing in a large way to the success of the meet.

Sutter believes the success is a function of the mindset of the team.

“We are going into the competitions and we’re really just focusing on ourselves,” Sutter said. “Whether it’s one of the top schools in the MAC or a school that we can without a doubt beat, we’re just going in there and competing our routines and letting the scores come. We’re not letting the pressure of how good or how close the ability of the other team is to what our ability is. We’re just letting our talent speak for itself.”

The events of the night are not lost on Sutter.

“It was definitely really exciting,” Sutter said. “I guess I kind of haven’t even really realized that that’s my last time competing at home; it hasn’t really sunken in yet. I’m glad that we got our season-high and that we came out with the win. I couldn’t think of a better way to end my competition at home.”