The women's gymnastics team left Rec Hall after last Saturday night's dual meet against IUP and Pittsburgh with a sense of disillusionment.

Toppling like dominoes, the Lady Lions (7-4) fell on six of their last eight routines on the uneven bars and the balance beam. And although the team scored a very respectable 190.35, the puzzled faces of Penn State's gymnasts told the story.

So what was it that made the Lady Lions look so very . . . human?

"We lacked something and I don't know why," Coach Judi Avener said. "I think it was a little scary -- it made everybody kind of doubt."

It also had the coach wondering whether her team had peaked too early.

"There is the possibility that we shot our wad at the beginning of the season," Avener said, "that we let it go too early."

Last season, Penn State didn't score a over a 191.95 in the regular season. This year, the team scored a 193 against Ohio State on Feb. 15.

Said Avener, "(The meet) reminded me of last year when we'd go into a meet, we'd be really well-prepared in the gym and for some reason we just wouldn't do the job out on the gym floor."

But it's obvious that this year's team has different qualities than last year's. And a hard-working attitude has led to higher expectations.

"Our average score is higher, our difficulty is higher, our consistency rate is higher," Avener said. "I think in just about every way this team is a stronger team than last year's."

Which is why the disappointment of Saturday's letdown ran so deep. It was a "free shot" for the Lady Lions to post a high regional qualifying score -- and they knew it.

"We had a really good scoring opportunity tonight and we blew it," senior tri-captain Janice Rogers said after the meet. "It just makes us re-evaluate everything we've been doing."

"We could have done a much better job and it was disappointing to throw away that opportunity," Avener added. "I thought this team had more intensity and aggressiveness than last year's team -- and yet tonight we looked like shades of last year."

Now, that ugly, pervasive word --letdown -- has made its way into the Lady Lions' vocabulary.

"I think our coaches tried to prepare for a letdown and practices weren't as demanding," junior Allison Barber said.

This week, practices have been as demanding as ever. The Lady Lions will take on western power Stanford on Friday and top-ranked Utah over spring break.

"I think we're going to bounce back the way we bounced back right after the Cat Classic," said Avener, referring to the Lady Lions' subpar third-place performance in that tournament earlier this season.