BATON ROUGE — The No. 8 LSU Tigers gymnastics team will kick off a busy weekend this Friday when they face No. 19 Michigan State at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the event are available online at www.LSUsports.net., over the phone at 225-578-2184 or in person at the LSU Ticket Office. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12.
Friday night will be “The Price is Right Night,” featuring games similar to the popular game show. The first 1,000 fans will be eligible to be “contestants” in popular Price is Right games throughout the meet.
LSU enters the meet with an 8-3 record, after falling to Alabama, 196.300-196.125, last Friday in a dual meet at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Michigan State is 8-3 on the year, and placed second last week at a tri-meet at Iowa. They scored an overall total of 194.875. Ranked No. 19 in the nation, they have a regional qualifying score of 194.490. Individually, they are led by Nicole Curler and Rochelle Robinson. Curler, a sophomore, is ranked No. 13 on the beam in the nation with an RQS of 9.835. Robinson, also a sophomore, is ranked No. 17 on the vault with an RQS of 9.855.
“They are in the top 20, so you have to have a lot of respect for what they are doing,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “This meet is more about us completing a good meet, and being strong in our last rotation.”
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, the Tigers leading performer on the season, is No. 2 in the national all-around rankings with an RQS of 39.475. She also holds the No. 2 on the vault with an RQS of 9.930. Additionally, she ranks eighth on the beam with a 9.850, 11th on the bars with a 9.820 and 14th on the floor with a 9.860.
Susan Jackson is also nationally ranked, placing No. 11 in this week’s all-around standing with an RQS of 39.215. The sophomore from Spring, Texas is also tied for No. 17 on the vault with a 9.855.
In addition to the Tigers’ all-around performers, senior Kristi Esposito is currently tied for No. 18 on the beam with a 9.825.
LSU leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 20-3-0. The Tigers are a perfect 10-0-0 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against the Spartans. The last match up between these two teams came at the 2006 NCAA Central Regionals in Baton Rouge. LSU defeated Michigan State, 195.825-193.575, in that meeting.
Following Friday’s meet, the Tigers will travel to Shreveport, La. on Sunday for a 2 p.m. dual meet with Centenary.