Despite a poor start on bars, the No. 8 Arizona gymnastics team narrowly defeated No. 9 Michigan State 194.975-194.925 Friday in East Lansing, Mich.

The Spartans dominated the first half of the competition, but Arizona came back in the floor rotation, defeating MSU 49.075-47.800.

“”They had a perfect meet going until they got to floor,”” Arizona head coach Bill Ryden said of the Spartans in a phone interview. “”Not giving up is what allowed us to take the opportunity they gave us and take the lead.””

MSU posted four bar scores higher than 9.850 to down the Gymcats 49.325-48.575.

“”We sort of put ourselves in a hold at the beginning of the meet,”” Ryden said. “”We were a bit substandard on bars.””

Senior Jamie Holton led Arizona on the power events, finishing in a first-place tie on both floor and vault with a 9.875 and 9.900, respectively. Holton shared her vault title with Arizona sophomore Bree Workman, who tied her career high on vault in front of friends and family in East Lansing.

Despite a wrist injury sustained earlier in the week, senior Aubrey Kelly took third in the all-around with a score of 39.000, just behind MSU’s Nicole Curler and Kristen Coleman, who each earned scores of 39.400 to tie for first.

“”She’s a pretty tough competitor,”” Ryden said of Kelly. “”Any type of errors she made were not because of that (injury).””

Arizona junior Danielle Hicks finished second on beam with a 9.850, her 2006 season high.

With their high team scores, both squads rose considerably from their designated rankings in a preseason coaches’ poll. The Gymcats moved up from No. 16 and the Spartans from a tie at No. 22.