CLEMSON – The Clemson Gymnastics team fell short to Stanford Sunday despite scoring its highest score of the season.

Sunday’s meet at Littlejohn Coliseum was designed to inspire women in sports. Clemson head coach Amy Smith touched on the importance.

“I feel like we get to do this every time we get to go out and compete.” Smith said.

Smith described the ebbs and flows of the meet.

“I think we could’ve capitalized on a couple more opportunities out there. We let a little bit slip away from us on the beam and floor,” she said. “We could’ve stuck a couple more vaults.”

Smith highlighted the missing pieces amongst her team.

“I think it was a good meet,” she said. “I don’t think this was a complete meet.”

Although falling short to the Cardinal, the Tigers kept it a contested meet against the No. 16 ranked team in the country.

“It was a big confidence booster,” Smith said. “We were hanging with them.”

Because the Tigers fell short, it demonstrated their ability to compete with ranked teams. “We can hang with Cal. We can hang with Stanford. They aren’t untouchable,” Smith said.

The Clemson coach drew on the positive points when describing the Tigers’ overall performance.

“Tonight was a big win for us,” she said. “I know we didn’t win the meet, but it helps our NQS (National Qualifying Scores) significantly.”

The Tigers will be back in action at Littlejohn Coliseum on Friday, as they host Military Appreciation Day.