No. 5 LSU knew it would need its best performance of the season if it was going to defeat three-time defending national champion No. 2 Georgia.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, their best was not good enough Saturday afternoon as both teams posted season-high scores in the Gym Dogs’ 197.550-195.925 win in front of a sellout crowd of 10,224 at Stegeman Coliseum.
“Our team continued to fight throughout the meet,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “They never got concerned with what Georgia was doing. I just wish the meet would have been a little closer.”
Georgia junior Courtney Kupets captured the meet’s all-around title with a 39.750 score, placing at least second in all four events.
“We said in our team meeting that today is where we wanted to start our season,” Kupets said. “We wanted to relax and have fun and use our environment that we love so much.”
LSU began the meet on the uneven bars, scoring 48.825. Five Tigers scored above 9.700 in the event, led by senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, who placed third with a 9.825.
The Gym Dogs started on vault, topping LSU’s bars score with a 49.150 to take the first intermission lead.
In the second event, Clare-Kearney won the 21st vault title of her career, scoring 9.925 and sharing the title with Kupets.
LSU sophomore Susan Jackson and freshman Nicole Lyons scored 9.825 and 9.800 on vault respectively.
Kupets captured her second individual title of the night with a 9.925 on bars to help the Gym Dogs extend their lead to 98.475-97.800 after the second rotation.
Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said three consecutive road meets to begin the season allowed the Gym Dogs to perform well in their home opener.
“I really had a feeling coming into the meet that we were just going to break loose,” Yoculan said. “We had been doing too well in practice for it to not carry over into competition.”
In the third and fourth rotations, Georgia continued to control the meet thanks to sophomore Courtney McCool.
The former Olympic silver medalist won the beam and floor events with career-high scores of 9.975.
Kupets padded her all-around score in the final two events, scoring 9.950 on the beam and floor events to finish second.
Yoculan said the McCool-Kupets duo will need to continue to perform well if the Gym Dogs will win their fourth-straight national title.
“They are two high-caliber athletes,” Yoculan said. “You saw it tonight. Courtney Kupets perfectly set up McCool each time, and that is how you get those big scores.”
Sophomore Lauren Klein scored 9.900 on floor to pace four Tigers performers who scored 9.800.
Senior Kristi Esposito scored 9.850 on beam to lead the Tigers, who suffered a team loss for the first time this season.
—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]