Halfway through Friday’s gymnastics meet against Florida, senior Diandra Milliner, filling in for the injured Sarah DeMeo, fell hard from the uneven bars. Backed by her teammates and coach, the NCAA vault champion was able to bounce back, posting a leadoff 9.875 on balance beam and clinching the victory for Alabama with a 9.95 on floor exercise.

Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said that kind of response is exactly what the team has come to expect from one of its senior leaders.

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“[Milliner’s response] didn’t surprise me,” Patterson said. “That was the one thing I said to her the minute she fell on bars. I said, ‘It’s over. [Your teammates] will have your back. Move on. We need you to set the tone on balance beam.’”

“I always tell people, if you’re the leadoff on beam, in my eyes as a coach, that’s one of the most important routines in the entire meet.”

But just like Milliner, her teammates shook off her fall on beam and moved their focus to the next rotation.

“We always focus on forgetting about the last event and moving on to the next event,” sophomore Lauren Beers said. “I think she did a great job with that. She obviously completely forgot about her bar routine and went and nailed probably her best beam routine of this season, if not her career. ”

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Beers said Milliner’s leadership has helped the team remain relaxed in high-pressure situations. That levity will be important as the team takes on No. 10 Stanford this Friday and moves forward to championship season.

Patterson said Milliner matches that lightheartedness with a strong sense of competition.

“I think the biggest thing about [Milliner] is she’s so competitive,” Patterson said. “In the fall, I had to push her a little bit, but I know when the competition comes out that she’s going to shine. She doesn’t get nervous. That’s one of the reasons we recruited her years ago, because she’s a fierce competitor. You can have a great athlete that can be great at what they do, but the mental toughness of getting in that pressure situation – sometimes they don’t handle it as well. We look for those kids that want to compete. It’s like that football player that wants the ball.”

While the team and Patterson look to Milliner for leadership, perhaps nobody’s expectations are higher than the athlete’s own.

“I think my expectations are to lay it all out on the line,” Milliner said. “This is the last chance I get for me and my team. I think that we all kind of know that it’s special that we get to end this season in Birmingham for SECs and Nationals. I think we’re gonna go out and do our best with our crowd supporting us and behind us.”

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