No. 5 Illinois (2-2, 1-1) will make its return to Huff Hall on Saturday for the first time since defeating No. 6 Nebraska (1-1, 0-1) on Jan. 31. Getting the victory against No. 11 Army (1-2) and No. 12 Greenville (1-2) won’t be an easy task with the new injuries suffered last weekend.
Without freshmen Ian Sandoval and Hasan Aydogdu, the event lineups will feature new faces. However, the depth of the Illinois roster should fill their spots.
Familiarity in Champaign
Competing in front of a home crowd is an advantage in almost any sport. During the first half of the season, the Illini only competed in Champaign one time. Coincidentally, the team’s only dual-meet victory of the season was also in this home meet.
The home crowds give the gymnasts the positive energy needed to hit their routines. With a short-handed roster, positivity from fans is necessary to build up confidence.
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“The more fans we can get in the gym, the better,” said head coach Daniel Ribeiro. “(The Illini) thrive off of that home energy.”
Saturday’s tri-meet will feature Pride Night with a Ninja Warrior competition following the meet. Ribeiro said these promotional events bring out a good crowd to use to their advantage.
Taking it easy
While rest is important for Illinois every week, this time, it is a necessity. To avoid more injuries, Ribeiro assigned his team a lighter preparation plan. This included hitting one routine in each event at the beginning of the week and recovery days closer to Saturday.
In the two weeks that the Illini have had off of competition, Ribeiro has been proud of the work his team put into the gym. But, he said this week is the time to freshen up the skills they have worked on to feel confident for Saturday.
“We need to do what we do, which is to hit clean routines,” Ribeiro said.
Not every gymnast got two weeks off from competing though. Ribeiro said sophomore Preston Ngai would benefit from more rest before this weekend. The sophomore had a long first half of the season but is still motivated to keep improving.
Staying the course
In years past, Illinois has been lucky enough to avoid injuries. Although that’s not the case this season, Ribeiro isn’t worried. He said this year, the Illinois roster has depth in every event that they haven’t had in the past.
“You have guys … have the ability to step up and score very close to where these guys scored,” Ribeiro said.
The one event that Ribeiro does have concerns about, though, is the still rings. The Illini didn’t have much depth in this position to start the season. Only four Illinois gymnasts could produce scores over 13.000.
Without Aydogdu and redshirt fifth-year Sam Phillips, that leaves two Illini who can reach that score. Ribeiro said putting up scores in the high 12s and low 13s on the still rings is an improvement that the team must make.
“They can say, you know what, we lost our three best all-arounders, the season is over,’” Ribeiro said. “Or they can say, ‘Now is my time to step up, now is my chance, this is my opportunity.’”
Instilling confidence in the team is Ribeiro’s goal for the rest of the season. He wants the rest of his roster to prove why they should’ve been in the lineup in the first place.
“We’re trying to instill that confidence and instill that purpose, that focus in the gym,” Ribeiro said. “We want to scrape out every 10th that we can get because we’re really gonna need it.”
Fans can watch the meet live on B1G+ at 1 p.m. CT.
