As the No. 3 LSU gymnastics team arrives in Athens, Georgia, to compete in the Athens Regional at 3 p.m. Saturday, the same team that delivered the Tigers’ only conference loss this season is welcoming them along with four other programs, but this time, the entire postseason is on the line.
In addition to the second-seeded Georgia Gymdogs, No. 1 LSU (18-4, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) will compete against Oregon State, Arizona, George Washington and Michigan State, while the top-two finishers will move on to the NCAA Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 15.
“We’re ready to go in there with a sort of unfinished business type of attitude,” said junior all-arounder Sydney Ewing. “We know we’re a much better team now than we were then, so we’re really excited to go back in there and perform the way we wanted to the first time.”
After a disappointing third-place finish at the SEC Championships, preparing for the immense upcoming pressure has been a focus in practice. While having at least one freshman on all events, the Tigers cannot only rely on their upperclassmen in intensified postseason situations.
“[Freshmen all-arounders] Lexie Priessman and Sarah Finnegan are certainly mainstays in our lineup, and we really rely on them as much as we rely on [junior and sophomore all-arounders] Ashleigh Gnat and Erin Macadaeg,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “It’s an amazing thing what [sophomore all-arounder] Myia Hambrick has been able to do all season long as a first year all-arounder. It’s a real balancing act, and it’s been a fun ride for the team as well as for the staff.”
For Finnegan, looking back at the regular season fuels her confidence.
After a bye rotation, the Tigers will start at bars, where Finnegan posted a new season high score of a 9.950 at the Texas Women’s quad meet in Denton, Texas, on March 12.
“This season has gone by so fast,” Finnegan said. “At the beginning, especially as a freshman, we didn’t really know what to expect, but having regular season under our belt, we have a pretty good feel of college competition. Now we just need to finish the job.”
The Tigers also hope to find comfort in the environment. Not only is Georgia’s equipment familiar to even the freshmen, but the team also recently beat third seeded Oregon State by 1.275 points in Denton.
Still, LSU’s biggest challenge remains the Gymdogs.
The teams’ 49.050 beam score, which among others featured a season-low score of a 9.300 by Gnat, played an important role in the 197.525-196.800 loss to Georgia on Feb. 13. 
Since then, LSU has not posted lower than a 49.200 on the event and Gnat’s performances validated her anchoring spot over and over, as she saw a new season high of 9.950 in the Tigers’ following away meet against then-No. 2 Florida on Feb. 26 and a 9.900 at the SEC Championships on March 19.
“I had a mental slip at Georgia,” Gnat said. “It was really early in the season. But I’ve become a lot more comfortable in that spot, and I’m really excited because it feels like I get to go back and get a do-over.”