Tomorrow at Rec Hall, the Penn State women's gymnastics team will take on a field of five top teams to qualify for the NCAA Championship later this month.

However, while the squad will have the familiarity of competing at home, two aspects of the team will be drastically different.

On March 16, the future of the team went down an unfamiliar path, when junior Katie McAvoy fell on the floor exercise and sprained her left ankle. With McAvoy's fall, the team lost a valuable contributor on all four events, and had to quickly search for a replacement before the Big Ten Championship meet a week later.

In McAvoy's place, freshman Kate Stopper stepped up for the team, and completed her first ever collegiate routine on uneven bars. Originally, Stopper herself had been out for the season with a toe injury, but, with her toe healed, Stopper put aside what she thought would be her redshirt season, and jumped at the chance to help the team.

"It was about being able to compete finally, not my eligibility," Stopper said. "I was wishing all season long to go out and compete and I finally got the chance. When the meet came, I knew I could do it, and it felt really great. I could have fallen and I knew my teammates would still be proud of me."

Stopper was first notified about her chance to compete two days before the Big Ten championship, and was told to bring her wrist grips with her for the trip to Columbus, Ohio.

At first, Stopper felt a slight case of nerves, but when the big moment arrived, she put aside any residual fears, and scored a 9.400 on the apparatus.

Additionally, Stopper still is eligible for a redshirt season, in the event of an injury in the next few years of her collegiate career.

At the regionals tomorrow night, both McAvoy and Stopper will be in the lineup for the squad.

McAvoy will compete on bars only, an event where she has tied the school record with a 9.950 and has been the team leader. Stopper, meanwhile, will participate in the vault, floor and bars for the team.

All season long, McAvoy has contributed high scores for the team, and her absence from the line-up has been hard for all involved, both mentally and physically. However, while McAvoy cannot contribute much on the mat, she has made a huge impact in other ways.

"It has been tremendously disappointing for Katie," head coach Steve Shephard said. "However, in spite of her pain, she has been positive for the team and tried to take the focus off of herself and help the team as much as she can."

Teammate and fellow junior Katie Rowland also took note of McAvoy's inspirational attitude in the gym.

"With Katie's personality, she's the hardest worker in the gym," Rowland said. "Her work ethic is incredible, and having to sit out drives her crazy. She just wishes everything could be fine and she could go out and compete like normal.

"She's been wonderful about helping us out in the gym, and I know that competing at regionals will mean a lot to her and the team knowing she can contribute."

For Stopper, on the other hand, regionals will give her a much-desired chance to show how much she can bring to the team. Recruited for her combination of raw power and skill on vault and floor, Stopper should be a huge asset for the squad in what remains of a season filled with injury after injury.

"Kate has been doing a great job in terms of pushing herself to try new things," Shephard said.

"It is always scary for any athlete to come back from surgery and to push their body like that. However, she has been more than willing to push it for the team."

With the return of McAvoy to the lineup and the addition of a fully healthy Stopper, the sky is the limit for the Nittany Lions, even if the path to victory takes a different turn.