The No. 2 LSU gymnastics team was caught in an unfamiliar spot Friday night, barely capturing victory against a Southeastern Conference opponent.
No. 9 Auburn showed it is ready to compete for a national title this season by nearly knocking off one of the nation’s best, but LSU held on to win 197.350-197.300.
“It was not our best meet,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux.. “We had a great score. We just could not get any momentum, but we were great. The kids did enough to win and beat a very, very good Auburn team.”
LSU (8-1, 5-0 SEC) started on bars, finishing with a team score of 49.250. Senior all-arounder and SEC Gymnast of the Week Rheagan Courville scored a 9.925 on the event, which gave her the bars title in the meet.
“I do not think the scores reflect how well we did tonight on bars,” Breaux said. “Nothing came easy tonight. The kids did a super job and really stepped up.”
LSU’s then produced a season-high score on vault in the second rotation with a rowdy student section sitting next to the event. A score of 49.525 brought the Tigers into the halfway mark with motivation and momentum..
Sophomore all-arounder Ashleigh Gnat came up only short of Courville, who scored a 9.950 on vault to narrowly beat out Gnat’s 9.925. Gnat’s performance was huge toward achieving the all-around title with a 39.550.
“Tonight was awesome,” Gnat said. “It was really exciting to be a part of.”
LSU moved onto floor where the team struggled, scoring a season-low 49.250. Gnat secured her all-around title scoring a team-high 9.950. She was followed by Courville (9.80) and senior all-around Lloimincia Hall, who scored a 9.875.
LSU finished on beam, scoring a 49.275 team score to secure the .050-point victory. Gymnasts praised senior all-arounder Jessie Jordan for her 9.925 score on the apparatus.
Despite leaving Auburn (3-3, 1-3 SEC) with the win, the LSU gymnasts still see room for improvment.
“We need to do better,” Gnat said. “It was a high energy environment. We really learned a lesson tonight. We did not do our best. We are going to go back in the gym and get better for next week.”