LSU beat Arkansas 198.475-196.200 on Friday in a top-10 showdown.

The No. 5 Tigers hosted the No. 7 Razorbacks, where they dominated all areas of the meet and marked a new high-score, not only for the season, but for the nation.

The score is the highest in LSU history.

“The main goal was to get a good performance, a complete performance, out of ourselves,” head coach Jay Clark said. 

And that is exactly what they did.

The Tigers started out on vault, while Arkansas competed on the uneven bars.

KJ Johnson led the Tigers off, sticking the landing on her first pass of the night. She scored a 9.875. Aleah Finnegan followed with a 9.875 of her own, then freshman Amari Drayton landed the first 9.90 of the night.

Kiya Johnson followed with a 9.90 of her own, and Haleigh Bryant anchored with a near perfect score of 9.975, the highest vault score of the night. Bryant will likely hold her spot as a top three-ranked gymnast on vault.

The Tigers ended with a 49.525 on vault, exceeding their average score by almost two-tenths of a point.

On the other side of the gym, the Razorbacks weren’t nearly as successful. Their uneven bars’ performance consisted of two falls and only one score of 9.00. They ended with a score of 48.175.

And not much changed after the second rotation.

The Razorbacks continued to struggle. They failed to produce a score higher than 9.875, ending with 49.200 on vault.

The Tigers, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more opposite.

Alexis Jeffrey started on the uneven bars for the Tigers, scoring a 9.875. Johnson followed with a 9.90 and freshman Konnor McClain stuck her full-twisting double-back to score a 9.925.

The Tigers didn’t back down after that. The crown was passed to Savannah Schoenherr after she scored a 9.950, and Bryant anchored for the second consecutive rotation, scoring a 9.90.

The Tigers dominated going into the second half of the meet, leading 99.075-97.375.

LSU had some comfort going into its weakest event, the balance beam. 

But the 4-inch beam wasn’t a problem for the Tigers.

Sierra Ballard led off with a solid performance. Sticking her double-pike landing, she scored a 9.90.

McClain followed her perfect beam routine in Missouri with one almost as good. The freshman scored a 9.975, tying for the second-highest score of the night.

Bryant followed with a stellar performance of her own, scoring a 9.950, and Finnegan anchored with a 9.90.

The Razorbacks struggled to gain momentum, even on their floor routines, which is the event that holds their highest average.

Freshman Hailey Klein led off for the Razorbacks where she stepped out of bounds, ultimately ending with a score of 9.60. Because her score was dropped, Arkansas relied on their next five gymnasts to deliver. They ended with a 49.325.

The Tigers continued to lead 148.700-146.750 going into the final rotation, arguably their best rotation, the floor.

McClain led LSU on floor, scoring her second near-perfect score of the night, a 9.975. Drayton followed with a 9.90, and Olivia Dunne made a comeback appearance for the Tigers. After being out of the lineup for two weeks, she scored a 9.875. 

Finnegan, Bryant and Johnson closed out the night with three top-notch performances. Finnegan scored a 9.925, Bryant followed with a perfect 10 and Johnson anchored with a 9.975.

After a tough loss on the road, the Tigers knew that this win was important to boost their momentum and restart their winning streak.

“Certainly when you’re coming out of a disappointment, getting back in front of your home crowd can be a tremendous boost,” Clark said earlier in the week. “We want our fans to continue to come out in force and pack the PMAC.”

The Tigers remain one of only two teams to break the 198 mark, with the other being undefeated, No. 1-ranked Oklahoma. In addition to this, the Tigers remain a top 20 team on all four events, including a top five-ranked team on vault, bars and floor.

LSU left little to no room for improvement in their match against the Razorbacks. Scoring no less than a 49.525 on each event gave them a sense of comfort that they haven’t been able to feel in previous meets. 

Despite the stellar, close to perfect performance by the Tigers, they are always looking for ways to improve.

“There’s clearly things we can do better,” Clark said. 

But the Tigers have plenty of time to improve as the season goes on, and they are on the right track to bring home a trophy.