GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Freshman Orley Szmuch fired an all-around score of 39.525 to lead No. 16 Florida past No. 5 LSU in gymnastics, 194.925-194.750, on Friday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Szmuch won the all-around title as well as the uneven bars and balance beam titles while finishing second on the vault and floor exercises.
LSU’s Nikki Arnstad won her third floor title in as many meets this season with a 9.9 and now has 10 in her career. Erinn Dooley of Florida won the vault title.
The downfall for the Tigers was inconsistency at each event. At least one LSU gymnast failed to have a solid routine on each event, forcing the team to take lower scores that it normally isn’t accustomed to.
“We were inconsistent on every piece of equipment,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “We weren’t able to get any momentum going. Any time we did, we would have a break. We just weren’t here tonight.”
Florida led throughout the meet after the Tigers got off to a slow start on the uneven bars, scoring a 47.875. Both Arnstad and Marina Degteva were unable to connect on their release moves and scored a 9.100 and 9.200, respectively. It was Arnstad and Degteva who missed their routines in the Super Six challenge just two weeks ago, also in Gainesville.
“The kids just never felt like they got used to these bars,” Breaux noted. “They said the rhythm and timing on them was just real different. It’s just little things like that, which you have no control over that can hurt you.”
In their first rotation, all six Florida gymnasts scored higher than 9.7 on the vault en route to a team score of 48.975.
Rotation two mimicked the first as LSU tied the Gator mark on vault with a 48.975. Degteva led the way with a 9.850, good enough for second place in the meet.
Following four solid performances by Florida on the bars including a 9.900 by Szmuch, both Dooley and Jacqui Williams each fell, allowing the Tigers back into the meet. The Gators led by .550, 97.400-96.850 at the midway point.
The gap closed to two-tenths of a point after the third rotation. Led by Arnstad on the floor exercise, four LSU gymnasts scored a 9.8 or better on the floor en route to a team score of 49.000.
Szmuch again led the Gators as she posted a 9.900 on the beam. As a team, Florida a 48.650 on the apparatus.
In the third rotation, LSU forced Florida to perform by scoring a season-high 48.900 on the balance beam. But, the Gators were ready and put up a 48.875 to score the overall meet victory.
Lauren Companioni paced the Tigers with a 9.850, good enough for second in the beam. However, four Florida gymnasts scored better than 9.8 on the floor to seal the win.
“You can spin something positive out of coming back in each event,” Breaux said. “But you can’t beat good teams and stay in top level competitions if you aren’t going to hit all four events. And these are excellent athletes making mental mistakes.”
The Tigers return to action at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. when they face perennial power Utah.