BATON ROUGE — LSU gymnastics head coach D-D Breaux was anxious to see how her 23rd-ranked Tigers would rebound after last week’s loss to Georgia when 21st-ranked Denver came to the Assembly Center Friday night.
Her questions were answered in resounding fashion, as the Tigers (2-1) posted season highs on three out of four disciplines, while recording an impressive 195.450-194.275 victory over the Pioneers (4-2).
The evening was highlighted by a near flawless performance by the Tigers on bars that included a perfect 10.0 by senior co-captain Sharene Mamby, the first perfect score by a Tiger since 1997. Mamby’s performance capped a 49.525 rotation on bars by the Tigers, the second highest score in school history.
“Wow,” said Breaux following her team’s breakout performance. “I knew this team had it in them and it was just a matter of putting it all together and tonight they did that. We really needed this performance tonight with a big road meet at Alabama next week. We needed to put the Georgia meet behind us and prove what kind of team we’re capable of being.”
The Tigers opened the night with a season-best 48.700 on vault highlighted by a 9.775 from Adrienne Couret, a 9.750 from Marina Degteva and a trio of 9.725s from Shanyn MacEachern, Ashley Hopson and Kristin Uransky.
It was on beam, however, that the Tigers truly took off. Amanda Mueller opened with a 9.825, while Brooke Cazeaux came up with a 9.90 followed by a 9.875 by Beth Boudreaux and a 9.925 from Degteva. That set the stage for Mamby, who is only competing in her third meet since missing the 2000 season with an Achilles’ injury.
The Tigers struggled in areas on beam for the second straight week, but still improved on last week’s performance, posting a 48.100 behind a 9.775 from Mueller.
With the Tigers holding a comfortable lead heading into the floor, they put the meet away with a resounding 49.125 in the final rotation. Nicki Arnstad and Brooke Cazeaux tied for the title in the event posting identical 9.875s. The rotation was also complimented by a career-high 9.850 from Chelsea Richard.
The Tigers return to action on Friday night when they travel to Tuscaloosa for a showdown with No. 2 Alabama in another match televised by College Sports Southeast.