Sometimes, even after a rough start, a team can still bounce back and redeem itself. However, during the No. 14 Illinois women’s gymnastics team’s dual meet against No. 18 Iowa Saturday night, luck was not on its side.

Despite senior Marijka Botterman taking the vault crown with a 9.

Sometimes, even after a rough start, a team can still bounce back and redeem itself. However, during the No. 14 Illinois women’s gymnastics team’s dual meet against No. 18 Iowa Saturday night, luck was not on its side.

Despite senior Marijka Botterman taking the vault crown with a 9.9, tying for the third-best score in school history and equaling her personal best, the team still started the meet behind with falls from four of the six gymnasts. During junior Sarah Schmidt’s routine, she fell and hyperextended both of her knees, putting her out of commission until further notice.

Despite showing confidence, the Illini’s miscues led to a chain reaction of sorts, as each mistake rubbed off on the next gymnast.

“We started off really rough with some sloppy mistakes, but definitely bounced back later in the meet,” head coach Bob Starkell said. “This could have been a really large loss, but we prevented that.”

The team bounced back in the second rotation, posting its best scores of the season on the bars with a 48.500. Botterman took another title by posting a score of 9.825, while sophomore Melissa Fernandez, Schmidt and freshman Kelsey Joannides each scored 9.775 to tie for third place.

The Illini stayed strong in the third rotation on the balance beam as Joannides took the title. Despite a solid performance, the team still could not regain the lead.

In the final rotation on the floor, the Illini could not compete with Iowa’s success. Sophomore Allison Buckley led the Illini with a fourth-place finish.

“It felt good to be in more events since my injury,” Buckley said. “Sticking together and working hard didn’t cut it for us today, but we did better than we could have.”

For the all-around competition, Joannides took second (39.050), a tenth of a point behind Iowa’s Houry Gebeshian.

“Kelsey has really been coming forward as a freshman and has been showing everybody exactly what she is capable of,” Botterman said.

This week the Illini will look at each of their routines individually and evaluate what needs to be improved upon and reworked, Starkell said.

Illinois returns next week with a quad meet at Ohio State on Saturday at 7 p.m with the Missouri Tigers and Michigan State Spartans.