The Washington gymnastics team experienced its closest dual meet of the season, as they narrowly lost 194.475-194.100 to No. 15 Arizona State on Friday.

A win against the Sun Devils would have been the first upset for the Huskies this season, which would have been an especially big deal since the Huskies have faced top-25 ranked opponents this whole season with only one exception. Washington now stands at a 1-7 record overall, while Arizona State moves up to 2-6 overall.

“We were very evenly matched teams and we were at home,” coach Joanne Bowers told gohuskies.com. “If we could have taken care of business a little more, we could have won. And that’s disappointing.”

While the loss may have been hard for the Dawgs, they still had many things to be proud of. The Huskies finished off the night with seven girls achieving top-3 finishes in events.

After competing only limitedly in their previous meet against Utah, junior Ashley Houghting was back in full force against the Sun Devils. The Ontario native captured a win on vault, with a season-high score of 9.925. The win was her sixth title of the season and her third title on the vault. Houghting also took second place on the floor with a score of 9.85.

Washington’s freshmen have consistently contributed to the Husky team and did so once again at Friday’s meet. Freshman Samantha Walior took second place on bars with a score of 9.775. Walior also tied for third with junior Kelly Gilbert, on the beam with a score of 9.75. Fellow freshman Kristen Linton took second on the apparatus with a score of 9.8. Freshman Hayley Bogart took third place on the vault as well.

Despite the strong performance of these ladies, the Sun Devils were just a little bit better on the night. Besides Houghting’s win on vault, the Sun Devils took first in the rest of the events. They swept the all-around competition, with Tiana Jean taking home first with a score of 38.825.

“We’re just going to keep working hard and try to get better,” Bowers said. “Now we need to focus on the little things every day in practice, and eventually those will become automatic for us in meets, we won’t have to think about them. We’ll just do them.”

The Huskies will have their shot at the other Arizona team next week, as they travel to Tuscon to take on the Wildcats Friday at 6:30 p.m.

[Reach reporter Rebecca Rogers at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]