On Friday night, the meet again came down to the last event. This time, however, it was No. 7 Nebraska's mistakes that won the meet for the No. 17 Penn State women's gymnastics team and not its own performance.

In the last home meet of the season, the Nittany Lions continued their success from last weekend with a close 196.025 win over Nebraska, Rutgers and Yale at Rec Hall. Nebraska was second with a score of 195.475. Rutgers and Yale rounded out the match at third and fourth place, scoring 190.55 and 190.2, respectively.

"It was nice to get the win but the reason we won was because Nebraska basically gave the meet to us when they fell on the beam. It was not because of our great performance that we won. It was because of their mistakes that we won," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said.

Friday night's meet was also Senior Night and the four competing seniors showed up one last time to show off their talents to a faithful Rec Hall crowd.

Senior Michelle Ilg bested her performance from last weekend, posting a 9.9 on vault. This was good enough for third place in the event. Her momentum moved into the uneven bars, where she took home her first event crown of the season with a score of 9.875.

Seniors Lisa Clark and Jennifer Orlando also found their calling in the vault, each posting a 9.925. It was a season-high for Clark, and Orlando tied her career-high. The team overall had a season-high on vault with a score of 49.425.

"Vault is an event where, if you stick it, you get a great score and starting off well on the first event really helps build the excitement," Orlando said.

Despite the strong start, the Lions' momentum ended up being a hindrance rather than help. The uneven bars and the balance beam again bothered the team and lowered its scores. Even with season highs on the bars from Ilg and junior Corissa Pirkl, the team was unable to compete to its potential, scoring a 48.675.

"I think we took too much energy into bars. That's one of the events were you need to come down, and we just kept the momentum up, which is good, but we just needed to come down and get those landings," Ilg said.

On the beam, the Lions were unable to rebound from their uncharacteristic performance in the bars. Senior Meredith Hoover and Pirkl gave strong performances, posting a 9.825, which was a season-high for Pirkl. However, the rest of the team did not follow in their success and the team finished the event with a score of 48.6.

Maybe it was the YMCA dance before the event or the fact that it was going to be the four seniors' last event in Rec Hall, but the Lions came out on fire during the floor routine. Hoover had a season-high and shared a three-way tie for first place with a score of 9.9. Her always-popular Penn State dance routine swayed the judges as much as it excited the crowd. However, the win was bittersweet for Hoover.

"It's very emotional. Doing that Penn State routine is so much fun, and it's hard to say goodbye to that," Hoover said.

Even with the Lions' strong performance on floor, it was the Cornhuskers' meet to lose -- and they lost it on beam. Two of the 'Huskers, Emily Parsons and Tricia Woo, both fell and they had to count a low score. This allowed the Lions to jump ahead and win their final home meet.

After the meet, the Rec. Hall faithful stayed to salute the five graduating seniors. Each girl received a blanket and a heartwarming hug from the three coaches. Tears were in abundance for all the Lions.

"It's always an emotional night. I think they had a great last home meet experience and hopefully they come away with a lot of good memories," Shephard said.