LSU gymnastics earned a perfect 10 on floor to bury Auburn in a win earned by season-highs on Friday night.
As students geared up for a long Mardi Gras weekend, they found themselves among the white-out crowd of the PMAC to witness No. 2 LSU gymnastics extend its at-home win streak in a 198.325-196.825 win over the No. 17 Auburn Tigers, capped by a perfect 10 on floor.
“The performance level was the best we’ve had all year, from top to bottom,” head coach Jay Clark said. “We had four relatively clean events, and that’s what we should be doing.”
Spirits were high as LSU took the runway at the start of the night, and it continued to rise throughout the competition as the team set the nation’s event high-score on the floor.
Looking to move on from the somewhat underwhelming win earned against now No. 16 Penn State, LSU had sights set on personal growth ahead of its matchup against No. 1 Oklahoma. An event that had seen its highest composite score of the season the week prior, the LSU vault rotation continued an upward trend of improvement.
Setting a new season high score of 49.550 on the event, an appearance from Victoria Roberts slid right into the lineup with an impressive front pike half. Roberts, who hasn’t been in the lineup since LSU took on Georgia at the start of the season, saw a personal season high on the event with a 9.875.
Near-perfect vaults from Kaliya Lincoln and Kailin Chio locked the first rotation down for the home Tigers as they settled into the electric start of the night.
One of the biggest concerns heading into the competition was the bars and beam rotations for LSU. After seeing season lows on each of these events against Penn State, it was important that the home team rediscover the rhythm it had garnered early on.
This concern, however, quickly dissolved after the performances that took place through each of these rotations. The night of season-high scores was carried on through a 9.975 on bars from anchor Konnor McClain and was supported by solid scores of 9.900 and above from a majority of the lineup.
“I was really proud,” McClain said. “I mean, my teammates having my back there after I had to wait a long time today before my bar routine let me relax and let me have those nerves to be able to do the routine and leave them on the side.”
This was the same case on the balance beam for LSU as sophomore Lexi Zeiss took the leadoff spot from Kylie Coen for the first time this season.
“[Zeiss] led us off on three events, that’s sacrificial in many ways,” Clark said. “She’s just the right person in those spots; she just has the right head for doing that.”
Following her solid performance to start the event was Emily Innes’s beam debut for LSU. As an event that has long been teased for Innes, the senior proved to be worth the wait as she earned a steady 9.825 on the night.
While the home Tigers saw scores of the upper 9.800s for a majority of the rotation, a near-perfect 9.975 from Chio added to the solid overall score of the event.
Alongside Coen on a rest week was the absence of senior Courtney Blackson for the first time this season on bars. Though her impressive scores were missed for the time being, a season debut on the event for freshman Nina Ballou filled the hole perfectly following a 9.900 earned towards the overall.
As LSU headed to its final rotation on floor, the team closed out the middle rotations with a season-high score of 49.575 on bars and a 49.425 on beam, both lengthening its lead and proving once again its resilience as a team.
The upward trajectory that LSU was on all night wasn’t to be ignored as the overall score kept adding up.
Amari Drayton, who has shown consistency across the three events she competes in, had the same story tonight. A powerful floor routine earned the junior a 9.950 to go with the pair of 9.900s she had earned on vault and beam.
Season highs from the entire LSU floor lineup added to the impressive rotation, but as the record-setting night came to a close, it was no surprise to see a perfect 10 for Chio on floor.
“Every single thing that we did this week, we really worked really hard for it, so coming into this meet, it was really what we wanted to do, just go out there and put four events together,” Chio said. “It was really special out there tonight, and I think everyone on the team would say that we had so much fun.”
Now with three perfect scores in her collegiate career, Chio’s perfect floor routine marks her first 10 on floor, leaving bars her only event where she’s yet to reach this accomplishment.
The Tigers now look to take down the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners on the road at the Lloyd Noble Center. With another win on its record, the Baton Rouge squad will continue its road to nationals, taking on one of its biggest competitors on Friday at 8 p.m. CST.
