BATON ROUGE — LSU’s seventh-ranked gymnastics team returns to SEC competition this Friday when it welcomes No. 4 Alabama to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a 7 p.m. dual meet.
Tickets for the event are still available and can be purchased online at www.LSUsports.net, over the phone by calling (225) 578-2184 or in person at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office.
LSU (9-6, 2-2 SEC) is coming off a dominating win over in-state foe Centenary last Sunday in the Gold Dome. The Tigers tallied a season-high road score of 196.525 in the victory, surpassing the 196.500 mark for the third straight meet.
LSU will look to continue that streak on the coattails of nationally-ranked all-arounders April Burkholder and Kelly Phelan.
Burkholder enters the meet ranked third in the country with a regional qualifying score of 39.345. She’s won five all-around titles this season, notching marks of 39.350 or better in each of those victories.
Phelan is ranked 16th in the all-around standings having posted five straight scores of 39.150 or higher. She also enters the meet as the nation’s top-ranked floor worker with an RQS of 9.910. She has won four straight meet titles in the event.
Alabama comes into the meets with an 11-1 overall record and a 4-1 mark in conference action. The Tide have not had a meet since Feb. 17 when they defeated Arkansas, 195.825-194.150.
UA is led by senior Ashley Miles and sophomore Terin Humphrey. Miles, a three-time NCAA champion, is currently ranked No. 1 in the country on the vault and No. 6 on the floor. Humphrey, a 2004 Olympian and the 2005 NCAA bar champion, is currently ranked 12th in the country on the bars.
Alabama leads the all-time series with LSU, 69-12-2, but owns just a 12-9-2 record in Baton Rouge. The two teams have already met once this season at the LSU-hosted Super Six Challenge. The Tide defeated the Tigers, 194.250-193.900, in that meeting.
Following the Alabama meet, LSU hits the road traveling to Gainesville, Fla., for a tri-meet with No. 2 Florida and No. 17 Penn State on Fri., March 10.