BATON ROUGE — The 11th-ranked LSU gymnastics squad will make the trek to Lexington, Ky., to take on Kentucky at 6 p.m. CST Friday in Memorial Coliseum in the first Southeastern Conference road meet of the season.
LSU (5-1, 0-1 SEC) will look to rebound after suffering its first loss of the season at home a week ago against Georgia, but the Tigers will have to do it with an adjusted line-up as junior all-arounder Sabrina Franceschelli has the flu and will stay in Baton Rouge.
“We are trying to develop our line-up and some consistency in this meet,” LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. “With Sabrina out it will open up the opportunity for someone else to go in, prepare and give us a good performance. Staci Schwitkis seems to be the one we will go to, and we will see how she does in the all-around. She has been consistent in two events so far.”
Positive news for the Tigers is the return of senior Lauren Klein who suffered an ankle injury prior to the Cancun Classic and has yet to compete this season. Klein is expected to compete in the uneven bars line-up against the Wildcats.
LSU will continue to look to all-arounders Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and Susan Jackson to lead the Tigers to victory. Clare-Kearney earned the 90th individual event title of her career against Georgia when she posted a 9.95 on vault. Clare-Kearney ranks in the top 10 nationally in two events as she is tied for second on vault with a 9.925 season average, and she is ninth on bars with a 9.867 average. Jackson, the reigning vault national champion, is currently tied for eighth on vault with a 9.892 average.
Schwitkis, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif., has been steady all season for LSU in the vault and bars line-ups as she has posted season-highs of 9.875 on vault and 9.775 on bars. Freshman Gloria Johnson has continued to improve as she recorded career-high scores against Georgia with a 9.825 on vault and a 9.725 on beam, and sophomore Samantha Engle has been steady as well, posting two 9.80s on bars and floor against Georgia.
Junior Kayla Rogers scored a season-high 9.85 at the top of the line-up on floor for LSU against Georgia, and junior Summer Hubbard collected her first 9.80 of the season with a solid performance on bars.
Kentucky (1-1, 0-1) is coming off a loss on the road at Alabama in its SEC opener, 195.825-194.075, but the Wildcats improved their score by more than three points from their season opener. Kentucky defeated Utah State on Jan. 10, 191.100-187.150.
Junior Hillary Ferguson has led the Wildcats so far this season by posting a team-high 39.275 in the all-around against Utah State. Ferguson has a season-high score of 9.90 on floor and is tied for 13th nationally in the event. Senior Natalie Rubinstein is tied for 14th in the nation on bars as she has scored a 9.85 in both meets. Statistically, Kentucky’s best event has been vault where the Wildcats are ranked 11th nationally as a team with a 49.000 average.
“Kentucky has a very boisterous home crowd, and they create a pretty hostile environment in their arena,” Breaux said. “I am hoping it will be a fun competition with lots of emotion and energy.”
Because it is a road meet, Tiger fans can log in to the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net to listen to the live audiocast. Once again Mike Smith and Tina Suhr will call the action from Memorial Coliseum. Live stats will also be available, and a link can be found on LSUsports.net.