The end of the 2016 season sneaked up on the Terrapins gymnastics team.

Just two weeks ago, the Terps weren’t yet halfway through their schedule. But in the Maryland Five Meet on Sunday, the team will be performing in Xfinity Center for the final time this year.

The Terps closed out a nine-day, four-meet stretch last Sunday, leaving three meets remaining before the NCAA first round on April 2. After finishing the most grueling part of their schedule, the Terps attempted to take advantage of their newfound confidence and practice time this week.

“We get two rest days this week, which …” coach Brett Nelligan said before pausing. “We haven’t had two rest days in … I can’t even remember when.”

When the Terps face off with Pittsburgh, Texas Woman’s, Yale and George Washington on Senior Day, they’ll have enjoyed a full week off between meets.

And in the George Washington Quad Meet last weekend, they scored a season-best 196.025. It also marked the third straight meet in which the Terps (4-10, 1-5 Big Ten) did not have a fall.

Afterward, Nelligan said the team had exceeded his expectations.

Still, the veteran coach wants his gymnasts to keep pushing the limits of what they can achieve.

“Once they see how good we can be, they want more,” Nelligan said. “We want them to be proud of themselves and their hard work but never satisfied.”

“We’re at the point in the season where we have all our skills,” senior Kathy Tang added. “Now it’s just getting those little tenths on each event.”

Tang in particular has found her stride lately, earning better than a 9.800 in each of her six routines in the past two meets. She’s also the team’s lone competing senior.

The Terps will also honor seniors Bailey Philbin and Alex Zimmermann, both of whom are injured, in a meet that holds extra significance for the team’s postseason aspirations.

Nelligan’s squad enters the weekend ranked No. 37 in Regional Qualifying Score, which allows just three of the six meet scores considered to be home meets. The top 36 teams in RQS reach the NCAA postseason, a feat which the Terps have accomplished each year since Nelligan arrived in 2009.

Sunday marks the Terps’ chance to put up a home score to replace their 194.425 mark against Arkansas, more than 1.5 points below their most recent score of 196.025.

“What we focus on is continuing the process,” Nelligan said. “If we continue to get better, the scores keep going up, and then all that RQS stuff takes care of itself.”

The winner of the meet will likely come down to the Terps and No. 21 George Washington, as the other three teams are ranked significantly lower than Nelligan’s. The Colonials beat the Terps, 196.600–196.025, just last weekend.

But with extra rest, the Terps hope they can continue to build on their past performances.

“I told ’em coming into practice today, we created a lot of momentum for ourselves the last three meets,” Nelligan said Tuesday. “We need to ride that into Senior Night.”