OPENING PASS

• The Sacramento State gymnastics team will compete for the second time this week when it travels to Boise, Idaho to face Boise State and Utah State on Friday night. The three-team meet will begin at 6 p.m. PT from ExtraMile Arena.
• The Hornets are coming off a third-place finish in a four-team meet at San Jose State last Sunday. Sacramento State overcame a disappointing performance on floor in the second rotation and finished the meet with 193.000 points. The team is now 6-2 on the season.
• This week is the second of six-straight road meets for the Hornets. The team opened the year with three consecutive meets at home and will end the regular season with three more home meets.
• Links to live stats and a video stream for this week's meet can be found on hornetsports.com.

OPPONENT PREVIEW

• Both Boise State and Utah State moved into the top 36 in this week's Road To Nationals rankings. The Broncos are 34th with an average of 194.963 while the Aggies are one spot back with an average of 194.950.
• Boise State has scored at least 195 points in all but one of its meets this season. Last weekend, the Broncos won the four-team meet at SJSU with a score of 195.575. Fifth-year senior Emily Lopez finished first on bars, while Alyssa Vulaj took a share of the vault title. Bridget Kemp and Blake Pascal were also named co-champions on floor. 
• The Broncos are coached by Tina Bird who is in her 18th year as the head coach and has over 30 years of experience on the staff. Boise State leads the all-time series, 23-7, and has won the last 17 meetings.
• Utah State is coming off a 195.225-195.200 loss at Air Force last Friday night. The Aggies previously set their season high with a 196.000 in a four-team in-state meet which included BYU, Souther Utah and Utah. Brianna Brooks leads the team with an average of 39.100 in the all-around. 
• Kristin White is in her third season leading USU and was previously an assistant at Arizona State and Iowa State. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2020. Sacramento State holds a 15-12 advantage in the series but the Aggies have been victorious in the last six matchups.

A LOOK AT THE LAST MEET

• Sacramento State counted a fall for the first time this season but managed to finish in third place by edging UC Davis last Sunday at San Jose State. The Hornets totaled 193.000 and were led by a first-place finish on beam from Kaitlyn Driessen. Hannah Sitzman tied for third on bars, Athena Jones tied for fourth on beam while Emma Morgenthaler and Sarah Lutrel were fifth on vault and floor, respectively.

DRIESSEN ADDS HER NAME TO THE LIST

• Kaitlyn Driessen was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Freshman of the Week after finishing first on beam at San Jose State. Driessen, who was competing in the beam lineup for the first time this season, scored 9.850 to claim the outright title. She also added a 9.700 on vault in the same meet.
• Driessen is the third Hornet to earn an MPSF weekly award through the first four meets of the season. She follows Kara Houghton who was named the MPSF Gymnast of the Week after the season-opener against UC Davis and UW-Oshkosh and Chloe Cohen who was the MPSF Freshman of the Week after the meet against San Jose State.
• Sacramento State gymnasts have combined to win at least a share of first place in 11 of 16 events this season. The number is even more impressive when you factor in that those 11 wins have come from eight different gymnasts.  Sarah Lutrel is the only member of the team to finish first multiple times in the same event this year as she has a pair of wins on vault to go along with one victory on beam. 
• Through four meets, the Hornets have seen Hannah Sitzman, Chloe Cohen and Kara Houghton each finish in first place on bars. On beam, Lutrel, Athena Jones, Rylin Zimmerman and Driessen have each had wins this season.
• As a team, Sacramento State has had the highest team score in 11 of its 16 events this season.

SEE WHAT'S TRENDING

• Through four meets this season, Sacramento State's roster features four gymnasts who have scored 9.7 or better in each meet on a specific event. The group is comprised of Sarah Lutrel and Rylin Zimmerman on vault, Kara Houghton on bars and Athena James on beam. While those gymnasts own the highest averages on the team for their event, only Lutrel has recorded the highest score. Lutrel and Grace Gilman each have a 9.800 on vault this season. Hannah Sitzman has scored 9.850 and 9.825 for the two best bars scores. Lutrel has a 9.875 on beam and Jones has scored a team-best 9.850 on floor.
• Sacramento State's most consistent event has been beam where the team is averaging 48.856 to rank 25th nationally.  The team has produced 11 scores of 9.800 or better from six different gymnasts. The highest score on beam all season, is not included on the list as Driessen scored  a 9.875 during an exhibition against San Jose State.
• Floor is the only event the team has used the same lineup in all four meets this year.

HOME SWEET HOME

• Sacramento State moved into its new training facility this past summer. The building, which is located on Folsom Blvd. and is within walking distance of campus, marks the first time the Hornets will have access to its own facility in school history. The training site has a full size competition floor and several sets of the other apparatus as well as a locker room, athletic training space and team lounge.