Pomp and circumstance, endless job searches and the real world are just a few things that seniors Michelle Ilg, Lisa Clark, Meredith Hoover, Corissa Pirkl and Jennifer Orlando have to look forward to.

The Penn State women's gymnastics team will host its final home meet against Nebraska, Rutgers and Yale tomorrow at 7:00 p.m in Rec Hall.

This meet is especially important -- not only because it is the final home meet of the season, but it is the last time the team's five seniors will swing from the bars of Rec Hall.

Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said that there will be celebration for the seniors' final home meet but there is still a ways to go before the season is over.

"It hasn't sunk in for me that they're leaving," Shephard said. Senior Jen Orlando said the meet will be bittersweet because the team knows it needs to do well.

"This is the last home meet, it's the best opportunity to get a really good score," Orlando said. "We have not done well with our scores the past few weeks, so we need to grasp this opportunity and run with it."

Coming off a victory last weekend helped boost team morale.

"We stepped it up a notch in terms of attitude and commitment to sport," Shephard said. "Hopefully that will show this weekend."

Orlando noted that while coming off a victory will help this weekend, the team is still very critical of its performance.

"Our score didn't reflect the goals we are trying to achieve," Orlando said. "We still want to do better."

Junior Genavieve Shingle has been watching her teammates from the sidelines. Surgery on her dislocated shoulder put her out for the season. As an active observer of her team's performance, Shingle is certain that the team has a lot of improvements to make.

"There is so much talent and potential that hasn't come together in a meet," Shingle said.

She also pointed out that nerves and meet jitters contribute to point deductions such as short handstands, split legs, flexed feet and shaky dismounts.

Shephard echoed Shingle in saying that the team must improve, especially on its execution.

"We're hoping that this weekend we will make stride in that regard," Shephard said. "We're capable of scoring a 196 plus which is what we need to do."

Shephard does not want his team to focus on winning, instead he wants each member of the team to be the best gymnast she can be.

Competition aside, this weekend is more than scores, wins or losses. It is time to bid farewell to five outstanding leaders of the team.

"I've been with them since I got to college, they've made my experience," Shingle said. "It will be hard to lead by example when they're gone."

The meet will send off the soon-to-be graduates in traditional style. The seniors will be introduced and the coaches will give them blankets as a send-off. The other members of the team will decorate the lockers and make sentimental tokens for their fellow teammates.

"The team has changed so much since my freshman year," Orlando said. "It has been a motivational experience being part of a team like this, and it's strange to be a senior -- it's already the end."

Orlando's post-graduation plans include job hunting and staying in the area so she can visit the team when she wants.