Only one event in collegiate women's gymnastics allows a gymnast a second chance to achieve perfection. Lucky for the women's gymnastics team, that event is the vault.

Competing as the last two Lady Lion vaulters at an away meet at Cal State-Fullerton on March 2, both Allison Barber and Lisa Mallios took small hops in the landings in their first vaults. But, they did not let their second attempt slip by, and landed on the mark. With their efforts, Barber captured a 9.70 and Mallios a 9.75.

The two are not the only standouts, but are part of a vaulting team that has become a force to be feared, with not just one or two strong vaulters, but a whole slew of them.

In that meet, Barber and Mallios combined with three of their teammates, Carrie Arnesen, Paula Bright and Kim Thrasher, to break the school record for the third time this season with a 47.95.

"Actually, we were pretty tired from the trip and vault was our third event. We just pulled it all together," said Arnesen, the team's captain.

"We knew from the start in preseason that vault was going to be our strongest event," Bright said. "That gave us the proof right there that we were a good vaulting team."

Last week, the vaulting team received a No. 7 national ranking.

Only one senior, Arnesen, is among the record-breaking team of vaulters. Mallios heads the team with the highest score and Penn State record of 9.85, which she captured when the vaulters broke the team record for the second time this season at the UCLA Invite, Feb. 24.

In that same meet, Barber was alongside Mallios when she hit a 9.80 mark just before Mallios' 9.85 score.

"It's kind of like a chain reaction," Coach Judi Avener said. "So much of gymnastics is mental.

"I think we've got two extremely hard workers (Arnesen and Bright) working for us," she added. "Then we've got two kids competing for us that are just innately talented (Mallios and Barber). We've got the right talent and hard work."

This season, the record-breaking started when Mallios, a redshirt sophomore, came back after a year off and reset her record of 9.70 twice. Since then, both Thrasher (1989) and Barber (1990) have tied that score.

Earlier in the season, the team of Barber, Mallios, Arnesen, Bright and Lynn Crane scored a 47.75 in the team's second meet for the first vault team record broken.

"I feel like physically we're really strong," Barber said. "And I think, just throughout the years, they've increased the number of people and a lot of that has been focused on vault and building up the vault."

The gymnast works on and competes a vault that has been both chosen by the coach because of the gymnasts' skill and adaptability to a vault.

"You kind of find what's natural for you," Thrasher said.

Thrasher said that she tried working on front handsprings as her teammates Mallios and Barber do, but it didn't work for her, so she tried a Tsuk vault instead.

In working a new vault, gymnasts go through a series of steps, such as using stacked mats and a trampoline, before they run through the whole routine. Different aspects of the vault cause problems for the gymnasts.

"It's really rare to stick vault," Barber said. "It's hard, depending on which direction you're coming or what type of feel you have for the floor. If you've got the vault down, the landing is probably the last thing, other than your cleanliness . . ."

During the season, a Lady Lion gymnast generally only spends about 15-30 minutes per day on the vault apparatus, but when a gymnast learns a new vault, much more practice time is needed, along with repetition.

When Bright first learned her full twist on, full twist off vault last year, she started working on it at an odd time, in February, rather than in the preseason. To have it ready by NCAA regionals in April, she practiced 30 to 40 vaults a day.

Barber, Mallios and Thrasher believe all the vaulters push each other to improve.

"Having other people that are vaulting just as good as I am and better, that encourages me," Barber said. "Maybe I can just do a little bit better and that, in turn, will help the team."