BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 11th-ranked gymnastics team begins its rigorous SEC schedule Friday evening when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for a dual meet with 22nd-ranked Arkansas.
The meet will begin at 7 p.m. from Barnhill Arena.
LSU (6-3, 0-0 SEC) is coming off a dominating, 195.025-191.100, win over Iowa last Friday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Head coach D-D Breaux was pleased with her team’s effort in that performance and is looking to build off that as the team heads into SEC competition.
“Last week I felt like we were able to develop some of the consistency we’ve been looking for in our lineup. All season long our mantra has been, ‘Consistency Wins,’ and as we head into the SEC schedule that becomes even more important,” said Breaux.
The Tigers plan on using a lineup similar to the one seen against Iowa. It will be anchored by upperclassmen as senior April Burkholder and juniors Nicki Butler and Kelly Phelan are all scheduled to compete in the all-around.
“The team is excited about this meet,” said Breaux. “The ones that have been to Arkansas before know what its like. The environment can be a little hostile, and they are looking forward to the challenge.”
Arkansas enters the meet with a 3-4 overall record and a 0-1 mark in conference action. The Gym’Backs are coming off a loss to top-ranked Georgia last week, a meet that saw them post a season-high 193.600 in the defeat.
LSU is a perfect 7-0 against Arkansas all-time. The series dates back just three years to 2002, the Gym’Backs inaugural season. This will be just the second-ever trip for the Tigers to Fayetteville. They last made the trek in 2004, where they defeated the Gym’Backs 196.775-196.450.
Following the Arkansas meet, LSU wraps up its two-meet road swing with a trip to Athens, Ga., for a dual meet with Georgia on Feb. 4.