BATON ROUGE – The 11th-ranked LSU gymnastics team is coming off back-to-back season-high 196.475 scores at home, and the Tigers will look to bring that momentum to No. 6 Arkansas Friday at 7 p.m. in Barnhill Arena.
LSU (5-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) will have the services of freshman Ericka Garcia for the first time this season, and senior All-American Sabrina Franceschelli might be back in the all-around after sitting out two events last week with a leg injury.
“Sabrina will definitely be fine on vault, bars and beam, but we also have the opportunity to interject Ericka in the lineups for a couple events,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “The mantra all season long is to be patient and let things develop as we go, and that is what seems to be happening.”
Even without Franceschelli in the vault and floor lineups last week against Texas Woman’s, several Tigers stepped up to provide outstanding scores.
Junior Samantha Engle crushed her previous career-high 9.875 on bars with a near-flawless 9.95 to win the event title and lead LSU to a 49.325, the second-highest team bars score in the SEC this season.
Freshman Shelby Prunty stepped in the vault lineup in place of Franceschelli and delivered a 9.70 in her first collegiate attempt, and she also scored a career-best 9.80 on beam to lead LSU to a season-high 49.225 team score.
Senior All-American Summer Hubbard posted her career-high all-around total with a 39.125 against Texas Woman’s, highlighted by a 9.875 on bars, 9.85 on beam and 9.825 on floor.
Senior All-American Kayla Rogers also stepped up last week with a 9.875 on vault and a 9.90 on floor from the leadoff spots to pace the Tigers, and for the second-straight week sophomore Gloria Johnson was impressive on beam as she notched a career-high 9.85.
Susan Jackson, the nation’s No. 1 all-arounder for the fifth-straight week, set the school record with her sixth-consecutive all-around title to open the season as she posted a 39.525 against the Pioneers.
Jackson will face stiff competition for the all-around title against Arkansas as two Razorbacks rank in the top 10 nationally in the all-around standings. Sophomore Jaime Pisani ranks eighth, and senior Casey Jo Magee is ninth as both average over a 39.300.
Much like LSU, Arkansas (3-3, 2-3) has faced depth issues all season, and last week the Razorbacks took a hit when senior Amy DeFilippo injured her knee and missed the meet against Georgia.
Arkansas has been outstanding at home with a 3-0 record, and the Razorbacks are one of only four teams to reach the 197-score plateau as Arkansas defeated Auburn, 197.025-196.425 on March 5 in Fayetteville.
“We practiced less this week to be a little more rested and have fresher legs for the meet, and we had a great practice on Wednesday,” Breaux said. “The kids have been doing great gymnastics in practice, and I feel like we are focused and ready to go.”
LSU owns a 17-1 record in the all-time series against Arkansas with the only loss coming in the NCAA Super Six last season when the Razorbacks finished fifth and the Tigers came in sixth. LSU is 4-0 all-time in dual meets in Fayetteville.
Tiger fans can follow the action by listening to the live audio broadcast in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net, and live updates will be posted on www.twitter.com/lsugym with live results on www.arkansasrazorbacks.com.