The second-ranked Gym Dogs managed to avoid an upset and remain undefeated Friday in Fayetteville, charting a 196.925-196.425 victory over No. 7 Arkansas.

“The win is nice, but I am a little disappointed by some of the mistakes,” coach Suzanne Yoculan said in a release. “It was weird where some of the mistakes happened.”

Those mistakes came most noticeably on floor, where the Gym Dogs had to count a fall after seniors Courtney Kupets and Tiffany Tolnay both stumbled.

Kupets and Tolnay are two of the top all-arounders in the country, but both have been embattled by injury. Tolnay is still recovering from a myriad of injuries, while Kupets continues to try and find week-in, week-out consistency as she comes back from an Achilles tear.

Even after Yoculan pointed to the fact that the tandem had probably the best practices they have had all year in the week leading up to the meet, Kupets failed to take the all-around title for the first time this season.

“I still believe what we do in practice will carry over to the meets, and I’m waiting for that to happen,” Yoculan said. “We had some high points, but we still have so much work to do.”

The Gym Dogs did post a season-best 49.325 on vault, led by Lauren Sessler’s career-high 9.900. They went on to close on beam, where sophomore Cassidy McComb fell, forcing them to count senior Paige Burns’ 9.650.

Junior Courtney McCool, recovering from a foot injury sustained in the preseason, also made her 2009 debut with a pair of exhibitions on bars and beam.

Exhibition routines are not officially scored by judges, but Yoculan estimated that McCool, last year’s NCAA floor champ, would have scored a 9.80 on bars and a 9.95 on beam. She did not do a dismount on beam.

The Gym Dogs entered the weekend with hopes of a return to the nation’s No. 1 ranking, but after top-ranked Utah exploded for a nation-best 197.525, they’ll have to wait until sixth-ranked Florida comes calling on Saturday for another shot.