EAST LANSING- No. 6 MSU is set to host No. 20 Michigan tomorrow night at the Breslin Center for the first time in school history. Back-to-back Big Ten Champions MSU look to climb higher up the rankings and secure a home win in front of the Breslin crowd.
“Walking in here today (Breslin Center) and just seeing everything, watching the setup, watching everybody that was involved in putting it all together, it’s really heartfelt, heartwarming, exciting,” said MSU head coach Mike Rowe.
This event will go down in history as a new era to MSU gymnastics, and the team’s performance as of late has drawn a crowd worthy of a larger arena.
“It takes not only the face of the program to a whole other level, and I can’t wait for the fans to see it and experience it as well because the girls are just blown away,” said Rowe. “It’s like we’re at an away meet in our own home.”
The in-state rivalry between MSU and Michigan dates back to 1988, and up until 2023, Michigan had an undefeated record against the Spartans. However, MSU has had the upper hand the past two years, looking to continue their streak.
“I love the rivalry, like it’s always been fun, we all know the Michigan girls well and, we love em but there is also that you know, head nudging and everything like that,” said MSU fifth year gymnast Delanie Harkness.
Home court advantage is going to be the key to success in this meet for the Spartans, and they must keep their composure in a much larger arena than usual.
“I feel like we have more of the advantage because we’re home and we got to do a walkthrough and compete and practice on our equipment already,” said Harkness. “I feel like the crowd will just pump us up and make the adrenaline go even more.”
The adrenaline should be a confidence boost for MSU; however, each team member needs to focus on getting through their routines as usual and remain in total control over their mind and body.
“Their gymnastics is clean, their gymnastics is exciting, it’s very technical, they’ve settled in to how they perform,” said Rowe. “We try to take our bubble and move it out onto this floor, our practice bubble, it’s just you and me.”
“It’s just you and me on bars, it’s just you and Nicole (Jones, associate head coach) on beam, it’s just you and Devin (Wright, assistant coach) on floor, it’s a practice, lets push play and go and see what happens,” said coach Rowe.
No. 6 MSU will host No. 20 Michigan at the Breslin Center tomorrow night at 6 p.m.