The crowd assembled in Rec Hall on Saturday night erupted in cheers after junior Kate Stopper stuck her landing on the balance beam in the Penn State women's gymnastics team's victory against Central Michigan.

Her performance earned her a 9.925.

Sophomore Meredith Hoover and freshman Stephanie Sullivan triggered a similar response.

Each posted a 9.9 on the beam.

Not much went wrong for the Nittany Lions on the beam rotation. One solid routine after another completed a practically flawless team effort for Penn State on the beam. Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach Bill Lorenz couldn't be more pleased with the squad's 49.425.

"They know that beam is their strongest event," Lorenz said. "They were confident and aggressive going into the event."

Coming off of its most disappointing event of the night, Penn State knew it had to bounce back after posting a scrappy 47.925 on the uneven bars. For the second consecutive meet, the bars were the Lions' downfall, arranging the perfect opportunity for redemption on the beam.

"Our girls are really good on bars," Lorenz said. "We have some great skills, but we just didn't put it together."

Of the six gymnasts in the beam lineup, each competitor notched her high score of the night on the exercise.

Confidence was evident. Bobbles were sparse. Concentration was apparent as the atmosphere in Rec Hall was silent for the duration of the beam routines -- until the gymnasts headed into their dismounts. Fans gasped a sigh of relief as the Lions nailed their dismounts after a handful of stellar routines. Penn State was in a rhythm and each clean performance made the next that much easier.

"We felt really relaxed because we were home and there was a high level of intensity, but it was a good intensity," junior Lisa Clark said.