MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Three scores of 9.85 or better on floor exercise propelled the West Virginia University gymnastics team to a season-high score in a 196.125-195.175 loss to No. 17 Iowa State on Sunday afternoon, at the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown.
 
The Mountaineers (0-3, 0-3) finished second to the Cyclones (2-1, 2-1) on every event but floor. WVU ended the meet with a season-high 49.150 on floor. In addition to its win on floor, West Virginia registered a season-high 48.95 on balance beam and matched its season best on vault with a 48.775. The Mountaineers also scored 48.3 on uneven bars.
 
"We definitely had some mistakes, but the good news is that they are easy mistakes to fix," Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. "I would almost call them lack of concentration mistakes. We just have to make sure we are a little bit more focused. We stayed on for the big skills, but it was the little ones that threw us off. Sometimes when you're transitioning from one hard skill to another, especially when they are easy, it can trip you up, and that's what happened to us today.
 
"The fact that we can get a season-high team score with those issues is great. It's a great sign. We are only in our third meet. Even though we are in February, it feels like we should be at meet five or six, but the fact that we are at our third meet and still trying to put some pieces together is normal. Overall, it was good. It's a little frustrating to make those mistakes, but at least they are little ones, and we can fix them."
 
The Mountaineers finished the meet with six podium finishes, including a tie for first on two events. Junior Kendra Combs and ISU's Maddie Diab tied for first overall on floor with matching 9.9s. The mark matched her career high in the event and was WVU's first 9.9 score of the season. Combs now owns 10 career podium finishes and four event wins, including three on floor.
 
"Kendra's floor routine is a lot of fun," Butts said. "It has the two tumbling passes, but they are both huge tumbling passes. Her jumps are amazing. I thought she deserved a similar score, if not the same thing, last weekend. It slipped by us a little bit, but today, she was dead on. It was a lot of fun to watch, but she can actually go even higher than 9.9, which I know is asking a lot, but she can do it."
 
Additionally, sophomore Kianna Yancey and ISU's Meixi Semple tied for first overall on beam with matching 9.85s. Yancey tallied a career high in the event, as she competed on beam for the first time this season and the third time in her career. Yancey now owns 11 career podium finishes and three event wins.
 
WVU matched its season-high total in the first rotation on vault, as a pair of gymnasts scored 9.8 or better to put the squad's score at 48.775. Senior Michelle Waldron finished in a tie for second with a personal-best score of 9.825. Waldron bested her previous mark of 9.8 last set on March 1, 2020, and earned her first career podium finish. Sophomore Abbie Pierson scored her second 9.8 of the year and tied for fourth. Freshman Kiana Lewis and Yancey finished with matching 9.725s in a tie for ninth. Senior McKenna Linnen matched her season high with a 9.7 mark, and sophomore Emily Holmes-Hackerd anchored the lineup with a 9.45 score.
 
ISU's MaKayla Maxwell finished first on vault with a 9.9 score.
 
The Mountaineers scored 48.3 in the second rotation on bars, as junior Esperanza Abarca paced the lineup with a 9.825 total, good for a season high, in the leadoff position to tie for third overall. Combs earned a 9.8 mark for the second week in a row and placed seventh. Freshman Nicole Norris competed on bars for the second time in her career, scoring a season-high 9.75 and placing ninth, while junior Rachel Hornung scored a 9.625 to complete the top 10. Lewis (9.25) and Yancey (8.975) had unfortunate falls in their series, as they rounded out the Mountaineers in the event standings.
 
ISU's Jade Vella-Wright won bars outright with a 9.875.
 
WVU also tallied a season-high total in the third rotation, as four Mountaineers scored 9.8 or better for a 48.95 showing on beam. Yancey tied for first overall with a career-high mark of 9.85, followed by Linnen in third with a 9.825 total to match her season high. Pierson and Holmes-Hackerd tied for fourth overall with matching 9.8s, as each gymnast posted a season-best score in their routine. Hornung tied for 10th with a 9.675, while Abarca placed 12th with a 9.3.
 
The Mountaineers clinched their season-high score in the fourth rotation, recording 49.0+ on floor for the second straight meet. Combs came through in the No. 4 slot, tying for first overall with a matching career-high 9.9 score. Holmes-Hackerd also posted a career high in the event with a 9.875 mark to finish third. Linnen opened the rotation and added her third 9.85 mark of the season to tie for fourth, while Pierson earned a season-best total of 9.775 and tied for sixth. Yancey scored 9.75 and placed eighth, while Lewis posted a 9.55 to place 12th. Of note, Lewis competed on floor for the first time in her career.
 
Additionally, Yancey placed second in the all-around behind ISU's Adnerys De Jesus with a score of 38.3. Today's all-around performance marked the Hatfield, Pennsylvania, native's first time competing in all four events since Jan. 26, 2020.
 
With the loss, WVU drops to 6-12-1 all-time against the Cyclones.
 
Looking ahead, West Virginia welcomes No. 8 Denver to the WVU Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 1 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.