UF gymnastics coach Rhonda Faehn had an extended weekend to think about it.
And still, what was fresh in her mind after the Auburn meet Friday was her team's resilience.
"I thought the team overall did a very nice job responding, especially after having a less-than-stellar (balance) beam performance," Faehn said. "Every competition is not going to be exactly what we want, but the key is how we respond to that."
Faehn attributed part of the rough performance to lack of aggressiveness, but also admitted that Rebekah Zaiser's injury, a broken foot that will keep her out all season, took a toll on the team.
"Not having Bekah as our leadoff since she went down on Tuesday, I think that affected our team mentally and emotionally a little bit," Faehn said.
The Gators clinched the victory by rebounding in their last event, floor exercise. Courtney Gladys led off on floor after the unconquerable beam, and the team never looked back.
Faehn said she and the coaching staff preached persistence.
"You fight until the very last routine, until that very last pose," Faehn said. "I was so excited to be able to see that our athletes fought for every little thing on floor."
It paid off.
A floor lineup that generated the second highest event total of the night, behind uneven bars, lifted UF.
With the team a bit thin because of Zaiser's injury and bursitis nagging Amanda Castillo, the floor lineup may not be tinkered with at all.
Castillo is still expected to compete on bars and beam, which she performed against Auburn.
Injuries to veterans mean more air time for the freshmen, starting in the first road meet of the season at Fayetteville, Ark., against the Razorbacks on Friday.
"They were definitely more comfortable in the second competition," Faehn said. "They were starting to understand and starting to see what goes on."
Faehn said she has no problem trusting her freshmen.
"Elizabeth (Mahlich) said, 'Put me in, I can do this,'" Faehn said.
Faehn added she felt comfortable plugging in freshman Nicole Ellis in the beam lineup. "If she looked at me with big wide eyes, she's not going to be able to hit, but she said, 'Absolutely, it's no problem, I can do it.'"
