Lexie Priessman hasn’t been able to sleep in days. 
The senior all-arounder has been to the NCAA Championship in all three previous years of her LSU career, but the excitement has never worn off. 
This year’s senior class, comprising Priessman, Sarah Finnegan, McKenna Kelley and Julianna Cannamela, is competing in the exact same arena where they placed second at the 2016 Super Six their freshman season. 
“This is something that this senior class has waiting for — our last week of gymnastics,” Priessman said. “It’s special.”
And Priessman isn’t the only one in her feelings about her final gymnastics meets of her career. 
While Kelley has been able to sleep, she said she’s had butterflies since the conclusion of the Baton Rouge Regional two weeks ago. 
“I’m not quite sure what it is I’m feeling — if it’s those senior jitters or if it’s just because I want it so badly for this team,” Kelley said. “It’s a bittersweet feeling and my biggest goal personally is just to have fun. I really just want to have fun and I think that’s impossible to not do with this team. I’m looking forward to ending my career with this team.”
For an underclassmen-heavy team, the Tigers lead leaned up senior leadership all season.
From a rocky start through the highest of highs winning the SEC Championship meet, Priessman said the team never gave up on each other and that’s what has allowed them to thrive in the latter part of the season. 
That leadership becomes maybe even more important as they head into the NCAA Semifinals.
“I think this senior class has done a good job of sharing what we’ve experienced years before this,” Priessman said. “I think just going in there and making sure everyone’s calm and doing our job.
“We don’t need to look around, we don’t need to see what other teams are doing. We just need to go in, do us, and I think the best is going to be waiting for us.”
Priessman said this is the best collectively and most confident that the team has felt, both in and out of the gym. If the team can trust in each other and trust in their gymnastics, Priessman believes success will be waiting for them at the end. 
Kelley emphasized the family aspect of this year’s team and how that more than anything makes them “special.” 
“That may sound cliche, like everyone thinks their team is special, but there’s something about our team that other teams don’t have,” Kelley said. “Our chemistry is so unmatched. You don’t see that. I don’t think it’s normal for a team to love each other as much as we do. We’re very excited to go to Fort Worth.”
Winning means a lot for this team, and there’s no doubt a national championship is on the mind on each and every single gymnast, but just enjoying the experience of competing together is just as important.
“But I want this senior class to just go out and have fun and enjoy this experience because it’s our last time out there, last time as a team to be out there together,” Priessman said. “If I want to walk away from this, the number one thing I want to walk away with is having fun with this group of girls.”
“I’ve never felt this way before. We talk about it all the time — McKenna and I — we look at each other like ‘this is our year.’  It has to be. I mean why not.”