The No. 2 LSU gymnastics team is set to compete against its first Southeastern Conference and Pac-12 Conference competition of the season at 6 p.m. tonight at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
LSU (1-0) will face Kentucky (1-0) and No. 20 Arizona State (1-0) in its first road meet after winning in front of a season-opening record crowd of 5,655 Tigers fans last Friday.
“We have a pretty tough meet [Friday],” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “[The Memorial Coliseum] is a tough place to compete because it’s not a big crowd. We will have to prepare differently.”
LSU scored more than a 197 for the 14th straight meet in its week-one drubbing of Iowa, including finishing in the top seven in the nation in every event.
Kentucky enters the tri-meet after defeating Washington, 194.975-194.325, while Arizona State survived against Southern Utah, 194.200-193.925.
“We are really excited to go out there and compete in our first away meet,” said senior all-arounder Jessie Jordan. “Competing away for the first time is more nerve-wracking than being in our home arena, especially with how much love and support we get here. But I think it will be a great experience and another opportunity for us to learn and grow as a team.”
After posting the No. 1 bars score in the nation and tying for the second highest in LSU’s history, the Tigers are looking to duplicate their week-one performance in the event.
“[49.600 on bars] is a huge score,” said LSU associate coach Jay Clark. “But we have to turn around and do it again. You are only as good as your next meet. What happened Friday means very little in the grand scheme of things, except for it hopefully giving them a shot of confidence.”
LSU also ranks second in the nation on beam despite a fall by freshman Myia Hambrick. It finished sixth on vault and seventh on floor, even after miscues by three gymnasts.
But skills can be harder to perform on opposing teams’ equipment — something the upperclassmen have grown more used to, but Hambrick and fellow freshman Erin Macadaeg haven’t experienced.
Jordan said performing on the road can be tricky, but having a longer warm up and a whole day to get used to the equipment and timing helps the process.
“We have told [the freshmen] to stay in the purple zone with the team,” Jordan said, reffering to a metaphor LSU uses for being focused on one’s own routine. “When we go to an away meet we have to create our own energy and make sure we don’t get wrapped up in what’s going on around us.
“We are such a strong team, and our depth is so large, that we will be able to adjust and compete well on any equipment.”