Two early falls on the balance beam were costly, as the Iowa State gymnastics team fell to sixth-ranked Nebraska, 195.650 to 194.475, on Friday night.

Senior Sarah Sanderson and sophomore Stephanie Sweitzer, the first two beam competitors for the Cyclones, fell on their routines, costing the team valuable points.

Coach Amy Pyle said falls in the meet cost the Cyclones two and a half points, but the team was able to overcome them to have a successful meet.

“Well, you use six-beamer teams and when they come to floor, it’s a totally different mindset,” Pyle said. “Beam is a tough event to compete and knowing, going into that beam, that we’re neck and neck. Then we got it (the falls) over with and then we were fine.”

Nebraska senior Heather Brink captured the top spot on the vault and uneven bars and tied for first on the balance beam en route to her first place showing in the all around competition. The top three spots in the all around belonged to the Cornhuskers.

Junior Betsy Hamm, a transfer from Florida, captured the top spot on the floor exercise for the Cyclones, carding a 9.875.

Hamm, competing in her first home meet, said she felt comfortable in front of the crowd but that her landings were not as strong as they could have been.

“I’m still working on my landings, my landings are a little bit off,” Hamm said. “Beams was shaky, competing for the first time at home. Floor, my landings were a little bit off, but I like performing, so that was fun performing for the home crowd.”

Senior Kelli More scored a 9.875 to tie for first place with Nebraska’s Nicole Wilkinson on the balance beam.

Sophomore Sissy Huey returned after missing the first meet with an ankle injury to nab second place honors on the uneven bars with a 9.825.

Huey, overall, was pleased with her effort at the meet, but still believes that she and her teammates are not quite making the grade yet.

“I think I did pretty good for my first meet coming off the injury, so I’m happy about that,” Huey said. “I made some errors, of course, but I’ll just work on those in practice and do better in the next meet. Overall, I was pleased with the performance, but we made some mistakes and we need to start hitting cleaner all the time, keep the energy level up because I think it dropped a little bit.”

Other top finishers for the Cyclones include junior Jessy Smith, who placed second on the vault with a 9.8 and sophomore Shelly Kringen placed third on the beam with a 9.85.

Pyle was pleased with her team’s performance on the vault and bars and that the floor and beam, while solid, were not at the level they can be later on in the season.

“Vault and bars, actually, everybody hit and to hit both those events this early in the year is great, especially at the first home meet, where they tend to be a bit more nervous,” Pyle said. “I really pleased with that, get that confidence boost. It (floor and beams) will get better over time. I would love to say that I’d like them to hit every routine, but that’s not being realistic because it’s still too early; it gives them something to work at.”

Next up for the Cyclones is the second in a string of four straight home meets, Jan. 28 against BYU. And despite the loss dropping the Cyclones to 1-1 overall and in the conference, Pyle is confident her team can rebound by cutting out mistakes.

“They had a great meet. We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but they’ve improved since Missouri,” Pyle said. “It’s a much better team than last year and, once again, it’s mistakes that everyday at practice we hit, but it’s a matter of getting in front of a crowd and performing like they can.”