TOWSON, Md. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team earned a third-place finish in a quad meet at Towson with New Hampshire and West Chester inside SECU Arena in Towson, Maryland, on Friday night.
 
New Hampshire earned the meet victory, posting a 195.275, while host Towson took second place with a 195.075. The Mountaineers (4-4) landed in third with a 194.8, and West Chester took fourth place with a 192.475.
 
The Mountaineers opened the meet on floor exercise and earned a season-high tying 49.2 total on the event. The rotation was led by senior Emily Holmes-Hackerd's career-high 9.925. With the score, she earned WVU's first 9.9+ score of the season. Junior Kiana Lewis tallied a season-best 9.875, before seniors Abbie Pierson and Kianna Yancey added a 9.85 and 9.825, respectively. Sophomore Anna Leigh rounded out the rotation with a 9.725.
 
After a rocky start to the second rotation on vault, the Mountaineers put together a 48.7 team score to hold on to first place after the first two events. The squad was led by a season-best 9.85 from Pierson. Sophomore Heidi Hartje and freshmen Brooke Irwin and Carlee Nelson added a trio of 9.725 scores, and Lewis rounded out the scoring with a 9.675.
 
West Virginia started strong on bars but was forced to count a fall in the third rotation and posted a 48.050 score on the event. Three straight sticks and 9.875s from Yancey, senior Kendra Combs and sophomore Brooke Alban got the rotation out to a hot start. Leigh bobbled a little on her routine and earned a 9.675, but a pair of falls to close the rotation forced WVU to count Irwin's 8.75.
 
WVU tried to turn around its momentum in the final rotation, putting together a season-high 48.85 total on balance beam. Yancey led the way with a season-high tying 9.85, while Combs also secured a 9.8. Pierson and Holmes-Hackerd tallied matching 9.775s, before Nelson rounded out the scoring with a 9.65.
 
In the final individual event standings, Holmes-Hackerd earned a win on floor, while Pierson earned the victory on vault. Alban, Combs and Yancey tied for first on bars, and Yancey added another tie for first on beam.
 
Up next, the Mountaineers head back to Morgantown to welcome Towson, Iowa State and Eastern Michigan to the WVU Coliseum on Sunday, January 29. In addition to opening its Big 12 Conference slate against the Cyclones, West Virginia also will host its second annual Women's Empowerment Meet, with various female-led organizations presenting table displays in the Coliseum concourse prior to the meet.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.