BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — For the second consecutive season, the LSU gymnastics squad has advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships for a shot at the national title.
But unlike last year, the Tigers are near the end of the strongest season in program history, and senior Sarie Morrison believes there is only one appropriate way to cap everything off.
“We know we’re not going there only to make Super Six,” Morrison said. “We know we’re going there to win a national championship.”
Whereas last season’s squad thought it was capable of winning a national title, Morrison said the Tigers are now certain of it, and their record-setting season only served as further evidence of their claim. 
But in order to get a shot at the title, third-seeded LSU (20-5) must first advance past Semifinal 1 of the NCAA Championships on Friday in Birmingham, Ala.
Friday’s semifinal opener is slated for 1 p.m. and will be held in the BJCC Arena, the same venue where the Tigers competed for the Southeastern Conference Championships on March 22.
Semifinal 2 of the NCAA Championships is scheduled later the same evening for 7 p.m. 
On Friday, LSU will face No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Stanford and No. 11 Illinois. The top three finishing squads from both semifinal sessions will advance to the NCAA Super Six Finals on Saturday, where the championship will be decided.
Since the start of the season, the LSU gymnastics squad has voiced its expectations of returning to the NCAA Championships for another chance at winning the school’s first team national title.
According to junior all-arounder Jessie Jordan, the Tigers’ appearance in last season’s Super Six helped them truly realize their championship potential and shape their goals for this season.
“It’s just completely different because we have the expectation now, and we know the excitement and happiness making it to Super Six brings,” Jordan said. “We really want to make it back [to Super Six] because we know we have a shot at a national championship.”  
Last season’s Super Six finish may have helped the Tigers realize their own potential, but their performances this season have solidified that perception to the rest of the nation.  
Entering the NCAA Championships, LSU has scored at least a 197 in 11 consecutive meets and 12 times overall this season, both school records. The squad has been a fixture among the nation’s top three ranked teams for all but the first week of the season, and they held the No. 1 ranking for three consecutive weeks.
However, the Tigers’ historic season was momentarily forgotten after their first trip to the BJCC Arena for the SEC Championships, where the squad finished third behind conference rivals Alabama and Florida. 
But LSU quickly awoke from its brief slumber in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on April 5, posting a school-record score of 198.325 to capture its second consecutive regional title. 
Jordan said the disheartening finish at the conference championships was actually necessary preparation for the Tigers and reinvigorated them for the final push of the season.  
“SECs really gave us a wake-up call to make sure that we prepare the way that we should,” Jordan said. “Going back to that arena, we know the pressure and excitement that’s going to be there.”
Junior all-arounder Rheagan Courville, the reigning vault national champion, said the Tigers are eager to once again prove their last performance in the BJCC Arena was an aberration, not reality.
“It’s great to be able to get back to Birmingham to make a statement in that same arena because we didn’t do what we came to do last time, and we want to fix it this time,” Courville said.
If the Tigers are to change the outcome in their second trip to the BJCC Arena, LSU coach D-D Breaux said the squad must return to being the relaxed team she had seen for the majority of the season. 
Given their momentum-building regional performance, it seems the Tigers took Breaux’s message to heart and returned to their typical free-spirited selves. 
“I think there’s a little bit of a swagger and the kids have some self confidence because we did so well at regionals,” Breaux said. “I think the comfort level is here, and I think the kids are focused on the task and staying in the process. Now, it’s just come through and enjoy it.”
In what promises to be another high-pressure competition, Breaux just wants her squad to do what they’ve done for the majority of the season — relax and have fun.
Morrison, who will compete for the final time of her LSU career this weekend, echoed her coach’s advice.  
“If we’re all having fun, we’ll have the best performances of our lives,” Morrison said. “That was one thing we slipped up on at SECs. We kept focusing just on winning. If we come in here and have fun and just be ourselves, that’ll be exactly what we need to win this and make it to Saturday.”