For all of the No. 3 LSU gymnastics team’s success in recent years, one foe has given the Tigers trouble at every turn.
LSU (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) has finished behind Alabama the last 11 times the teams have clashed. The No. 7 Crimson Tide (3-1, 3-0 SEC) have knocked off the Tigers in four straight dual meets, but that streak will be put on the line tonight when LSU hosts Alabama in the PMAC at 7 p.m.
The last time the Tigers defeated the Tide was in 2010 when then-No. 1 Alabama fell by a narrow margin in Baton Rouge. Since then, the Tide has outdone LSU in every meeting by an average score of 197.105-196.307.
“Alabama and LSU are huge SEC rivals,” said junior all- arounder Rheagan Courville. “I know there’s going to be lots of excitement in the PMAC, and we want to get out there in front of our fans and show them what we’ve been practicing. It’s obviously a goal to beat them because we know we’re prepared enough, and we know we have enough confidence.”
During Alabama’s streak against LSU, the Tide notched a 197 or higher six times, whereas the Tigers have surpassed that mark in the last three contests.
Despite recent history being skewed in Alabama’s favor, LSU coach D-D Breaux put no value on the streak.
“I don’t think we’re in a losing streak,” Breaux said. “Last year, we had every opportunity to beat them, and we made some mistakes when we went to our best event. The same thing happened to us when we went to SECs and regionals.”
The Tigers narrowed the gap last season, falling to the Tide by less than .300 in a home meet before coming up only .100 points short of Alabama at the SEC Championship. The Tide finished .300 points better than LSU at the Super Six meet to close the season, but the first three weeks of 2014 suggest an end to Alabama’s dominance.
In the early stages of the season, the Tigers mustered a 197.038 average team score while the Tide averaged a 196.775 through three competitions.
LSU boasts three top-25 all-around gymnasts for the first time since 2007, as Courville is No. 1, junior Jessie Jordan and senior Kaleigh Dickson are tied for No. 7. Alabama senior Kim Jacob is the only ranked gymnast for the Tide, standing at No. 14 with a 39.275 all-around average.
Breaux said tonight’s competition is one of the midpoints of the regular season, but she couldn’t deny the importance of turning out a great performance against Alabama.
“When Alabama comes to town, does it make a big footprint? Yes it does,” Breaux said. “It’s a target, something that we feel like we need to be our best for every time.”
“When Alabama comes to town, does it make a big footprint? Yes it does.” “It’s a target, something that we feel like we need to be our best for every time.”