BATON ROUGE — LSU’s ninth-ranked gymnastics team continues its SEC slate this Friday when it welcomes No. 1 Florida to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a 7 p.m. dual meet.
The Tigers (7-4, 3-1 SEC) are coming of back-to-back road victories against conference foes Kentucky and Auburn and look to continue their winning streak against the Gators.
Florida enters the meet with a 10-0-1 overall record and a 4-0-1 mark in SEC action. The Gators tie came against two-time defending NCAA champions, Georgia.
“Anytime you are hosting the No. 1 team, you know you are taking on one of the finest teams in the country,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux, “This is a close rivalry that includes a lot of close friendships among girls on the teams so there is a lot of emotion involved.”
In the competitive arena, Florida versus LSU match ups have traditionally come down to the wire. In the last 10 years, 12 of the 23 meetings between the two teams have been decided by a half a point or less, including three that were decided by less than .100.
Adding to the competitive atmosphere is a group of athletes with common backgrounds.
The Tigers’ roster boasts two athletes from the Sunshine State, in senior Kelly Phelan (Orlando) and freshman Summer Hubbard (St. Petersburg). Seven Gators call Florida home.
Prior to her arrival at LSU, Phelan was club teammates with five current Gators ? freshmen Amanda Castillo, Ashley Kerr and Melanie Sinclair and juniors Tiffany Murray and Ashley Reed ? at Orlando Metro Gymnastics.
Phelan will be counted on heavily to help upend a streaking Florida team that has not scored below a 197.250 since Jan. 27. The 2006 All-American is currently the Tigers’ top-ranked all-arounder with a No. 12 national ranking.
Not far behind Phelan are junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and senior Nicki Butler who are ranked No. 14 and No. 16, respectively, in the all-around this week.
The trio will be expected to anchor a lineup that Breaux feels is just beginning to find its consistency and the level of success that she knows its are capable of.
“I think we have really improved in our last three outings, but Friday our challenge is to stay focused and stay in the process, not on the fact that Florida is the No. 1 team in the country,” said Breaux.
“We saw Florida in the season opener and have seen them on TV since,” added Breaux. “We know what they are going to do. To beat them we are going to have to beat them with stuck landings and hit handstands.”
Following the Florida meet, the Tigers will have just one day’s rest before traveling to Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday for the Masters Classic, a invitational that will feature No. 3 Stanford, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 21 N.C. State.