EAST LANSING, Mich. - Sixth-ranked Michigan State gymnastics opens conference action and hosts No. 20 Michigan on Friday, Jan. 17 for the first-ever gymnastics meet at the Breslin Center at 6 p.m.
Friday's meet will stream on B1G+. Parking is free for fans in Lots 63 & 67 and Ramp 7.
NOTABLES
The Spartans enter Friday's meet at 3-1 after finishing second behind Florida (196.675-196.650) and ahead of Nebraska and Northern Illinois in a quad meet on Jan. 10 in Gainesville. MSU is ranked sixth in the Week 2 RoadtoNationals rankings with an average team score of 196.750. The Spartans set season highs on bars (49.425) and beam (49.300) at Florida.
Junior Olivia Zsarmani continued her breakout season in all-around against Florida with a career-high 39.425 to finish third. She also set a career-high on beam with a 9.925, securing a tie for second on the event. Junior Sage Kellerman finished in a tie for second on vault (9.875) and bars (9.925), while senior Gabrielle Stephen was MSU's top finisher on floor for the second meet in a row with a 9.850. Stephen and junior Nikki Smith joined Zsarmani in the all-around, scoring a 39.400 and 39.300, respectively.
Smith and Kellerman both rank in the top 25 in the NCAA on vault and bars. As a team, MSU ranks sixth on vault (49.213), eighth on bars (49.288), ninth on beam (49.200) and 18th on floor (49.050) in the Week 2 RoadtoNationals standings. The Spartans also have a pair of gymnasts in the NCAA top 20 all-around standings - Smith (15th, 39.387) and Zsarmani (19th, 39.313).
THE MATCHUP
Michigan sits at No. 20 in the Week 2 RoadtoNationals standings with a team score average of 195.450. The Wolverines are 3-1 in 2025 after most recently winning the first session of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City on Jan. 10, defeating Clemson, Arizona and NC State with a season-high 195.925.
Graduate student Carly Baumann ranks 25th nationally on bars this season. She qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships on the event last season and was named First Team All-Big Ten in 2024. Michigan freshman Jahzara Ranger has competed in the all-around in the Wolverines' first two meets, while fellow freshmen Sophia Diaz and Sophie Parenti have also appeared in Michigan's lineups throughout the first two meets.
The Spartans will look for their third dual meet win over the Wolverines in as many seasons this Friday, having won at home in 2023 for the first time since 2007 and on the road last season for the first time since 1990. Since MSU's win in East Lansing on Jan. 22, 2023, the Spartans are 4-1 against the Wolverines - MSU's only loss came at the 2023 Big Ten Championships, while the Spartans defeated Michigan in all three matchups last season (Super 16, at Michigan, 2024 Big Ten Championships).
UP NEXT
MSU continues conference action at Ohio State on Friday, Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m. The meet will stream on B1G+.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
