PHILADELPHIA – Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics (2-4, 1-1 MIC) notched their second victory in 2018 on Friday when they edged past Pennsylvania, 192.700-192.200, at Rockwell Gymnasium.
 
"I'm very proud of these girls and how they responded," acting head coach Brittney Emmons said of the win. "This was a tough meet to fly out here. We had to just remember to do our jobs and stay settled in. Overall, I'm just very proud of how the team reacted and I truly felt like we competed from the heart today."
 
Alexis Brawner led Southeast with individual titles on vault, uneven bars (tied with Penn's Kyra Levi) and floor exercise. Brawner matched her personal-best score of 9.900 on floor.
 
The Redhawks started the dual on bars with a team score of 48.025. Brawner led Southeast with a 9.800 and Alana Fischer added a personal-best score of 9.625. Jordan Williams also recorded a personal-high of 9.575 for fourth-best score on SEMO.
 
Emmons said opening the meet on bars set the tone for the whole meet.
 
"Bars started us off great," Emmons said. "There were little mistakes here and there but for us to not have to count a fall and be able to go up and just hit our routines was huge for us to start off with."
 
In the second rotation, Southeast totaled a 47.600 on vault. Brawner tied her season-high of 9.825 to lead SEMO and win the event. Samantha Gallet made her Redhawks debut and recorded a 9.500 on vault and added 9.275 on bars.
 
On floor in the third rotation, Southeast amassed a team-score of 48.675 behind Brawner's career high (9.900). McKinzie Jones was second on SEMO with a 9.825. Gabrielle Adams chipped in a 9.700 and Lindsey Bates had a score of 9.675.
 
SEMO finished the meet with a season-best of 48.400 on beam in the final rotation. Jones recorded a team-best 9.775 for third overall in the dual. Williams (9.750), Michael Sanders (9.700) and Megan Dennis (9.600) all notched career-bests against the Quakers for the second through fourth spots on Southeast. Williams and Sanders also recorded their first career scores of 9.700 or higher on the discipline.
 
Emmons said confidence was the difference on beam and propelled SEMO to a season-high score.
 
"I told them before we started floor that we had floor and beam left and it was a very loud crowd but we've competed in front of 10,000 people [at Kentucky to open 2018] before and that this was no different," Emmons said. "I just think that they held themselves to a higher standard on that event which was awesome to see because that is what we have been working on in the gym."
 
The Redhawks conclude their weekend road trip in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a quad meet at Temple with Cornell and Ithaca on Sunday at 12 p.m., CT at McGonigle Hall.