Redbirds Square Off Against Ball State, Kent State In Sunday Showdown

MUNCIE, Ind. – While many will be focused on the big NFL game later in the day, the Illinois State gymnastics meet has a big showdown of its own on Sunday as the Redbirds travel to Muncie, Indiana, to take on a couple of Mid-American Conference foes in Ball State and Akron.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Redbirds will face off against Ball State for the second-straight meet, after competing against them last week at Southeast Missouri State. This will be the first time ISU will see Akron on the mats, with all three teams vying for top scores. The meet is set to begin at Noon CT at Worthen Arena and it will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Live stats for Sunday's meet will be available via Virtius and fans can follow along via live results at GoRedbirds.com or via X on @redbirdwgym.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
•    The Redbirds enter the weekend ranked 53rd nationally with an average score of 193.110. 
•    Last time out, ISU posted a pair of season-best efforts on vault and bars to post its highest score of the year at 194.025 against the host Southeast Missouri State, Ball State and Oshkosh.
•    Sophomore Savannah Ray had one of her best meets yet as a Redbird, as she picked up a pair of Top 3 finishes on bars and vault. Ray's best performance of the night came on the bars, where she tied for second with a career-best score of 9.850 and she also picked up a Top 3 finish on vault with a career-high score of 9.825 to finish in a tie for third. 
•    Freshman Mia LeBlanc was voted MIC Newcomer of the Week, after she recorded three season-best scores and posted a pair of Top 10 finishes, with her score of 9.750 on floor tying a career-best to finish in a tie for 9th. She also posted a Top 10 performance on bars with a 9.725 to tie for ninth as well.

SCOUTING BALL STATE
•    The Cardinals enter the weekend ranked 39th nationally with an average score of 194.744.
•    Ball State earned a season-best score of 195.675 last Sunday at the SEMO Quad and have captured 14 of a possible 16 individual event victories so far this season.
•    The Cardinals have a pair of individual all-around wins thanks to Zoe Middleton the last two outings.
•    BSU currently leads the MAC and rank 21st nationally with an average beam score of 48.969.

SCOUTING KENT STATE
•    The Golden Flashes enter the week ranked 42nd nationally with an average score of 194.631.
•    Kent State recorded a season-best score of 195.350 in its season-opening league win over Northern Illinois.
•    KSU's best event by national ranking is vault with an average score of 48.775 to rank 37th and its best event by average score is floor, with a mark of 48.831 which it is 41st nationally.
•    On Friday night, the Golden Flashes finished second at the West Virginia Quad Meet with a 195.100. Charlie Behner claimed first place on bars with a career-best 9.900 as KSU posted one of its best uneven bars performances of the season with a 48.775.

For all latest on Illinois State gymnastics, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Instagram (@redbirdgymnastics), on X (@redbirdwgym) and Facebook.

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