When the No. 14 Arizona gymnastics team departed for Corvallis, Ore., for their meet against No. 11 Oregon State, UA head coach Bill Ryden believed that his lineup could be the strongest of the season.

Turned out the injury bug had different ideas, as OSU (3-1, 3-1) defeated Arizona (2-2, 0-2) 196.275-194.050 – a season low for the Gymcats.

“”We had a lot of injuries that forced us to put people into the lineup that just weren’t ready,”” Ryden said. “”We had a short week because of the Stanford meet (Jan. 20) and it didn’t allow us (time for) our injuries to heal. I would love to see (Sunday meets) go away, but that is never going to happen.””

Forced to pull Sarah Specht from the vault and floor due to an injury she sustained against Stanford, Ryden replaced her with gymnasts who were either nursing their own injuries or simply not ready to compete.

“”We are struggling with consistency,”” he said. “”Injuries are a part of that, but they are not an excuse.

“”(Junior) Alexis Greene, (freshman) Colleen Fisher and (junior) Beamer Bergeson all had great competitions, but overall we did not have a great performance (as a team),”” Ryden added.

Senior Danielle Hicks, who is recovering from major shoulder surgery, gave a solid performance in the meet.

“”She’s doing a great job,”” Ryden said. “”She won’t be fully healthy until she retires, but she continues to improve each week.””

Senior All-American Karin Wurm committed a rare error on the uneven bars, a mishap so rare that Ryden couldn’t recall the last time that happened.

“”If I could remember them,”” he said. “”I could probably count on one hand the number of falls she has had on bars in her career.””

Wurm added: “”It’s definitely weird to fall on bars, but it’s just one of those things that can happen sometimes.””