NIU gymnastics is set to host its final home meet of the regular season, as they welcome back-to-back MAC champions Central Michigan (6-2, 3-0 MAC) Sunday.

The Huskies (3-4, 2-2 MAC) will pay homage to their seniors, as they prepare for what could become a highly intense meet.

“It’s a meet that’s very easy to get pumped up for,” said NIU coach Sam Morreale. “No one on this team has beaten them, and in my nine years here, we haven’t beaten them. We want to send the seniors out with a victory on this one.”

NIU will come in with the main, and obvious, goal of victory on its mind. The Huskies are always setting mini-goals for meets throughout the season such as landing a certain amount of dismounts.

While no goal in terms of performance was given, there is a goal for the total score for this meet, and all others going forward.

“From here on out we need to be around 193.000, if not breaking 194.000,” Morreale said. “If we want to get primed for championships, we want to put a good run of 194’s together, if nothing else, just for ourselves.”

NIU senior Ashley Guerra said she knows the importance of putting up a good performance score wise, regardless of the outcome, but admits that victory would sweeten the pot.

“They’ve always been our rivals,” Guerra said. “It’s been a goal of the team to beat them, and this is a year we could actually do it. It’s about getting our heads right and it’s making us work harder.”

While Guerra and fellow senior teammates will be honored at the meet, there still is the competition part, and the team is very much eyeing a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The act of balancing the two becomes integral as they go into action Sunday afternoon.

“We do have to not just think of winning,” Guerra said. “I know I’ll be thinking about it being the last regular season meet at Northern, I need to block that out as much as I can. I need to do the best I can for my team. I can’t let it get in my head that I need to have a good performance because it’s my last one.”