The LSU gymnastics team put on a show for fans in the PMAC and viewers watching from home on Friday night against No.8 Alabama, with another perfect 10 from Kiya Johnson and the team’s first score of the season above 198. The Tigers stayed dominant through all four rotations to outscore Alabama 198.050-197.600.
The night began when the Tigers erupted from the tunnel wearing their new Mardi Gras inspired leotards. The new design was created by Assistant Coach Ashleigh Gnat to look like Mardi Gras masks and debuted just in time for the beginning of Carnival.
The first rotation began with the Tigers on vault, where the gymnasts put up a strong score of 49.500. Kai Rivers, a junior, led off with a 9.9 to get things started. She was followed by a season-high score from Sarah Edwards, who matched Rivers’ 9.9 with one of her own.
Elena Arenas and KJ Johnson both scored 9.875s to keep the Tigers ahead of the Tide. Kiya Johnson in the fifth spot scored a 9.90 and Haleigh Bryant anchored with a 9.925. The Tigers led Alabama 49.500-49.300 going into the second rotation.
The uneven bars lineup looked a little different for the Tigers with Alyona Shchennikova out with an injury, but they managed to hold onto their two tenths of a lead over the Crimson Tide.
Kiya Johnson led off with a score of 9.90 followed by a 9.875 from Rivers. Olivia Dunne scored a 9.80 in the third spot with the student section making a lot of noise for the sophomore and NIL superstar. Bryant scored a 9.925 with her incredible handstands and new, harder dismount, and Sami Durante anchored with a 9.95.
One of the highlights from the meet was the Tigers’ beam rotation. They scored a very solid 49.65 led by Kiya Johnson’s perfect 10 in the anchor spot. Christina Desiderio has really found her stride this season and once again set up the rest of the routines with a 9.90 in the leadoff spot. Bridget Dean scored a 9.90, and Bryant got a 9.95 on the beam.
Freshman phenom Aleah Finnegan scored a 9.90 and was followed by Johnson’s perfect 10. Unlike their last two meets against Auburn and Florida, LSU managed to stay ahead of Alabama going into the last rotation on the floor. The Tigers led the Tide 148.600-147.975.
They kept up their momentum with a new air of confidence fed by the large crowd in attendance. The first five gymnasts performed so well Jay Clark was able to pull Johnson to protect her sensitive foot injury and still got above a 198 for the final score.
Desiderio matched her leadoff 9.90 on beam with another one on floor. Dunne made her PMAC debut on floor and scored a career high of 9.90. KJ Johnson and Bryant both scored 9.875s, and freshman Finnegan scored a 9.90.
One of the most important takeaways from the meet is that this is not the highest score possible for this team.
“Big win. We still got room to grow. There are plenty of things to improve on,” said LSU Head Coach Jay Clark.
Clark also noted the importance of having these incredible leadoff performances of 9.90s from the “table setters” like Desiderio. He said that all good teams have a great back half of the lineup, so having the first three routines hit could make “something special” happen.
“If they can start you out at that scoring level, there is a chance something special can happen,” said Clark.
This was a busy weekend for the Tigers, as they split the tri-meet in Columbia, Missouri falling to Missouri and beating Arkansas after having to reschedule due to COVID-19 earlier in the season.
