CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 12th-ranked LSU gymnastics team will open the 2011 season when the Tigers take on No. 8 Oregon State inside Gill Coliseum Friday.
The meet will begin at 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT), and fans can listen to live audio for free inside the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net/live. Tiger fans can also receive live updates of the meet by checking out the team’s social media presence at www.Facebook.com/lsugym or by following @lsugym on Twitter.
The 2011 season marks the 37th year of LSU gymnastics, and the Tigers will welcome the largest freshman class since 2001 as six true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen will see their first action as Tigers.
D-D Breaux will begin her 34th season as head coach at LSU, and she said the opener will serve as an opportunity to see where her young squad stands and how they will respond in a tough environment.
“We need to learn who can hit and who has good composure in a competitive setting,” Breaux said. “We held two-a-day practices leading up to this trip where we did drills and conditioning in the morning and ran lineups and pressure sets in the afternoon.
“The team is very positive, and we are seeing a lot of aggressive approaches to practice. A lot of kids are very focused and eager to get off on the right foot.”
Several freshmen will see their first competitive experience at the collegiate level because one of LSU’s seasoned veterans – junior All-SEC second-teamer Gloria Johnson – is out with a foot injury.
Freshman Sidney Sanabria-Robles will also miss the meet with an injury.
LSU features one senior in Samantha Engle, and she and junior Ashley Lee represent LSU’s returning All-Americans from a year ago. Those two were a big part in the Tigers’ 196.925-195.525 victory over Oregon State in Baton Rouge last season, and LSU will count on their leadership in the opener.
LSU’s other retuning letterwinners include sophomores Ericka Garcia, Janelle Garcia and Shelby Prunty who are all expected to compete against the Beavers.
For the first time since 2003, LSU enters a season with no gymnasts on the roster with all-around experience, but a freshman or two might see action in all four lineups Friday.
Kaleigh Dickson and Lainie Fleming are the two freshmen who redshirted in 2010 after suffering preseason injuries, and the six true freshmen include Casey Duvall, Mckenzie Fox, Maliah Mathis, Sarie Morrison, Sidney Sanabria-Robles and Sarah Zoldos.
LSU holds a 10-7-1 advantage in the series, and the two teams have met three times in the last two seasons. The Tigers won the 2009 Central Regional title in Columbus, Ohio, while the Beavers placed second.
After the dual meet in Baton Rouge, the two teams met up in the NCAA Championship preliminary round last season as Oregon State finished fifth with a 196.050 while LSU finished only a quarter-tenth behind the Beavers with a 196.025.
Following the meet LSU will prepare for the Southeastern Conference opener with a road meet at 15th-ranked Auburn on Jan. 14.