With only three home meets this season, the NIU gymnastics team knew it needed a win Sunday at the Convocation Center.

And with sophomore Holly Reichard leading the way, the Huskies soared over MAC opponent Eastern Michigan for a 194.350-192.625 victory over the Eagles.

“I think we did what we wanted to do,” said NIU head coach Mark Sontag. “We went off the first meet and tried to make some corrections. We opened up well, but we had quite a few areas that we could improve upon. Right now, going into any of these meets, especially with MAC schools, you can’t have a bad event. I’m very pleased with our performance.”

Reichard led the pack of Huskie gymnasts, stealing the top spot in the all-around competition with an overall score of 39.350.

The sophomore was the only NIU all-around competitor, and beat out EMU’s Erin Grigg (39.075) and Duven Zu Vuong (37.800) for the first-place finish.

“Holly is on top of her game,” Sontag said. “She was awesome two weeks ago, and she was better [Sunday]. She just keeps focused and competes to win.”

The Huskies outscored the Eagles in the beam, vault and bar events, but couldn’t surpass their opposition on the floor routine. Though the team was outscored as a whole, senior Leah Johnson performed the top floor routine with a 9.875 mark.

Jennifer Naughton also had a strong individual performance, putting up a 9.900 score on the beam.

The mark was the highest score for any gymnast in all four events. Naughton landed the 9.900 after bouncing back from an injury two weeks ago.

“This was Jenni’s first meet, and it hurt so much to have to have her sit on the sidelines during the team’s first meet,” Sontag said. “She can really get it done. She’s one of the greats.”

Reichard led the team on the vault, nabbing a 9.875 from the judges, and shared the leading score on the uneven bars with teammate Natalie Blum. Both gymnasts scored a 9.800 on their routines.

With the victory, the Huskies remain undefeated in both the MAC and at home. NIU will only compete one more time at the Convocation Center, and must prepare for a three road meet run before returning home in February.

“We have the best fans in the MAC,” Sontag said. “It’s always fun to be at home, and you take that familiarity of the environment with you on the road. There’s no substitute. It’s nice to play at home because it builds your confidence up and allows us to get ready to hit the road.”