Freshman Meredith Hoover shyly stepped forwards and walked across the gym to accept the Ann Carr Award.

With 2,857 fans looking on, Hoover had made quite an impression in her first home meet.

The 15th ranked Penn State women's gymnastics team defeated a 17th ranked New Hampshire squad on Saturday in Rec Hall by the score of 193.800 to 191.750.

Improving to 2-4 on the young season, Penn State was led by seniors Katie Rowland and Katie McAvoy, both of who achieved a score of 38.675. Hoover's 9.850 on the beam and 9.750 on the floor routine also stood out as bright spots of the evening, an evening which was marred by sloppy landings and mental mistakes.

"We're happy to win, but it was frustrating to give away so many points," Penn State women's gymnastic coach Steve Shephard said.

University of New Hampshire head coach Gail Goodspeed echoed Shephard's sentiments.

"Neither team was up to par. Penn State opened the door, and we shut it on ourselves," Goodspeed said.

New Hampshire's Jen Dickson led all gymnasts with a score of 38.900, with McAvoy and Rowland tying for second place.

Penn State co-captain Leslie Bair was doubtful to perform due to a knee injury, but decided on Friday to compete on the balance beam.

With a bandage tightly wrapped around her leg, Bair gracefully earned a 9.725.

"It felt really good to be up there on the beam again," said Bair, who is hoping to work her way back into the other events in the near future.

Penn State dominated the floor exercise, taking the first four positions. Like a bottlenose dolphin at Sea World, Rowland excited the crowd and reached supreme heights with a 9.900. With Linkin Park blasting from the speakers, sophomore Kate Stopper unleashed an arsenal of complicated moves, scoring a 9.850.

New Hampshire freshman Amanda Hall vaulted to a high score of 9.900, and McAvoy led all scorers on the uneven bars with a 9.850.

With a 9.900, senior Nikki Bongiovanni stole the show on the balance beam. Fighting through a slight ankle injury and a torn meniscus, Bongiovanni credited her achievement to her success in practice.

"I've been hitting really good in practice, and I just stayed calm when I was up there," Bongiovanni said.