Individually, Penn State women gymnasts placed first. Yet as a team, the Nittany Lions couldn't pull it off.

The No. 16 Penn State women's gymnastics team dropped its first dual meet of the season Saturday to No. 7 Ohio State with a score of 195.350-194.700.

And once again it all came down to one event.

But unlike last week with the beam, this time it was the vault.

Due to an injury, Penn State junior Nikki Bongiovanni was unable to compete on vault leaving the Lions with only five competitors in the event. And after counting a fall, there was nothing the Lions could do to make their final score higher. Vault would be the only event the Buckeyes would beat the Lions on by a score of 49.100-48.075.

Penn State edged Ohio State on the bars 49.125-49.000 and on floor 49.15-48.975. And, even after counting a fall on beam, Penn State outscored the Buckeyes 48.35-48.275 in the event.

"I think they competed with a lot of heart," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "We knew it was going to be close. If we hit and they hit we could beat them, but they hit and we didn't."

Sophomore Katie Rowland came out on top for the Nittany Lions placing first in the all-around with a 39.450, her all-time personal best. She placed first on vault, beam and floor with scores of 9.875, 9.850 and 9.875, respectively.

"The event that helped my confidence the most was beam," Rowland said.

Other individuals placing in the top three for the Lions included senior Maria Taylor with a first place finish on bars with a score of a 9.900 and a third place finish on beam with a 9.800. Sophomore Katie McAvoy and freshman Richelle Simpson tied for second on floor with a 9.850. McAvoy also placed third in the all-around scoring a 39.025, and tying with her teammate, senior Gemma Cuff.

"We still haven't put everything together, but a lot of individuals stepped it up,"Rowland said.

Confidence again seemed to be a problem for the Nittany Lions with certain team members making small mistakes which cost the Lions some points.

"I made uncharacteristic mistakes," McAvoy said. "It's just things you can do when you get back to the gym and polish them up."