TOWSON, Md. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team clawed back from a difficult opening rotation to place second in its season-opening quad meet at Towson with West Chester and William & Mary in Towson, Maryland, on Friday night.
 
The Mountaineers (2-1) opened the meet on the uneven bars and were forced to count a trio of falls. The squad fought back from there to earn eight scores of 9.8 or higher and top West Chester and William & Mary. WVU really found its spark during the floor exercise rotation, as five of six gymnasts scored above a 9.8 and a pair earned event-winning scores of 9.9.
 
Host Towson won the meet with a 194.150 total, while the Mountaineers took second with a score 194.000. West Chester was third with 192.600, and William & Mary placed fourth with a 192.010 total. West Virginia claimed 11 total podium finishes on the night, including event wins from senior Rachel Hornung on the all-around, junior Abbie Pierson on vault and floor exercise and sophomore Kiana Lewis, who tied for first with Pierson on floor.
 
"I probably will chalk the performance on bars up to nerves because the team came out after that and absolutely rocked it," WVU coach Jason Butts said. "We showed tonight that if you put our normal bars performance in there, this would have probably been a top-20 ranking, so we'll definitely take it."
 
West Virginia's night didn't begin the way it expected, as WVU was forced to count three falls on bars. Senior Esperanza Abarca led off the rotation with a stick in her landing and a 9.725 score, but from there, Hornung was the only other Mountaineer to tally a stuck routine.
 
In the team's second rotation on balance beam, WVU fought back to hit five of six routines. Sophomore Agatha Handono began the momentum shift by tallying a 9.65, followed by Pierson's season debut with a 9.775 in the No. 2 spot. Hornung led the way with a high score of 9.85, just shy of her career high, to place third overall on the event. Senior Kendra Combs was just behind Hornung with a 9.825 to take third place overall on beam. While freshman Anna Leigh's Mountaineer debut came on bars, she tallied the first stuck routine of her career in the beam lineup, notching a 9.775 total.
 
It was on floor exercise where the Mountaineers truly began to shine, with Pierson and Lewis tallying matching 9.9s to tie for first place on the event. The total matched Lewis' career high and was just shy of Pierson's career-best mark. Hornung (9.8), Leigh (9.875) and Combs (9.85) all recorded scores at 9.8 or better, helping WVU sweep the top five spots on the final standings on floor.
 
In the final rotation on vault, West Virginia hit six-of-six routines, as Pierson topped the podium with a 9.825. Junior Kianna Yancey started off the rotation with a 9.750, while Combs, Lewis and Hornung each recorded matching 9.725s. Also on the event, freshman Brooke Alban made her Mountaineer debut, tallying a 9.650.
 
"I am extremely proud of the team for finishing the way they did," Butts added. "They could have easily let the wheels fall of the bus, but instead they rallied back and almost won. We told them that we're very proud of them for fighting hard and that we can easily go from here and add points back into our score, so this is a good place to be after the first meet."
 
In addition to Leigh and Alban making their Mountaineer debuts at Towson, Combs made her career debut on vault and in the all-around, while Handono tallied a new career-best on beam.
 
Up next, the Mountaineers prepare to open their home and conference slates, as they play host to defending Big 12 champion Denver on Friday, Jan 21. Action inside the WVU Coliseum is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.