Last week, the No. 18 Penn State women's gymnastics team finished sixth out of six teams at the SEC Challenge, and immediately headed to the gym to begin polishing their errors and learning from their mistakes.

Thus, when the squad takes the floor at 7 tomorrow night in Rec Hall to face No. 13 University of Denver, it will be aiming to showcase its new improvements, and challenge for the top spot once again.

"We are pleased with the progress the team has made this week as we prepare for the University of Denver," coach Steve Shephard said. "We have worked on eliminating landing deductions on our dismounts and vaulting. We think it will be a great meet with a very strong Denver squad."

Indeed, junior co-captain Leslie Bair agreed with the coach on the improvements the team has been able to make in such a short period of time.

"In the last week in practice, we have been really focusing on sticking our dismounts and working on the little things that make a huge difference in the long run," Bair said. "These mistakes will cost us in competition, and we really want to perfect them and show how good we really are."

Last year, the Pioneers finished 12th at the NCAA Championships, the first time in the school's history that they qualified for the big show.

The two teams have faced each other just once, when Penn State captured the Burnsley Invitational with a score of 195.375 and Denver finishing third with 194.650.

Denver also packs a strong punch with several talented all-arounders, including senior Melanie Schiff, who scored the second best beam mark in Denver's history with a 9.925, and sophomore Ashley Shible, who tied for seventh on vault at the NCAA Championships, and has a vault named after her.

According to team leader Bair, Denver's talent will make for an interesting competition.

"I think Denver will make this a very good and strong competition," Bair said. "They did very well last weekend and scored higher than us, and we have to remember to never underestimate their abilities and skills."

Penn State, though, has several secret weapons of its own, particularly in junior Katie Rowland, the team's top scorer last weekend. Currently, Rowland is ranked 10th nationally in the all-around with a score of 39.350, and also leads the team on all four apparatuses, with rankings of 18th on floor and 16th on beam in the country.

In addition, five Penn State women are ranked in the top 10 in the all-around in the NCAA Northeast Regionals, with Rowland first, fellow juniors Katie McAvoy second, Lisa Campagnolo seventh, Bair 10th, and sophomore Kelly Streicher 12th.

Above all, the squad has the added motivation of competing at home and showing off before their fellow students.

One of the best aspects of competing at home will be the opportunity to have co-captain senior Nikki Bongiovanni on the floor with the squad, after shoulder surgery earlier in the month. Bongiovanni will be on hand to cheer on her teammates.

"Nikki is a huge motivator for our team and still helps us now even if she cannot contribute with her gymnastics for the year," Bair said.