LSU Gold

No. 3 Gymnastics to Meet No. 2 Florida Friday Night

by Jake Terry (@LSUjake)
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No. 3 Gymnastics to Meet No. 2 Florida Friday Night

BATON ROUGE ? It’s hard to find a better matchup than what will take place Friday in the Maravich Center when the third-ranked LSU gymnastics team plays host to No. 2 Florida at 7:30 p.m. CT.

The Top 5 showdown pits two SEC rivals that mirror each other almost to the thousandth decimal point. LSU (8-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) is No. 3 with a 197.321 season average, while Florida (5-1, 4-1) is No. 2 with a 197.325 average.

The contest is labeled the Gold Meet, and fans are encouraged to wear gold. It’s also Autograph Night in which the team will sign autographs after the meet on the Maravich Center concourse.?


Promotions Schedules


Group and general admission tickets are still available for the meet starting as low as $2 a ticket. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.LSUtix.net, over the phone at 225-578-2184, in person at the LSU Ticket Office on the first floor of the Moran Family Center for Athletic Administration or at the Maravich Center box office beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.

“We are focused and ready to go Friday night,” LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. “We have had a great week of practice, and the ladies are excited to compete in front of an amazing home crowd.

“Florida is a talented team that will provide a great challenge, and I know our team will come out ready to perform at a high level.”

LSU will look to extend two home streaks against Florida. The Tigers have posted 12 consecutive scores of 197 or higher at home, and LSU has won 10 straight home meets dating back to the 2013 season.

LSU enters the meet with three gymnasts ranked in the Top 25 of the national all-around standings. Rheagan Courville is No. 3, Jessie Jordan is No. 5 and Ashleigh Gnat is No. 20.


National Rankings


Florida counters with three of its own in the Top 25 of the all-around: Kytra Hunter at No. 6, Ericha Fassbender at No. 12 and Kennedy Baker at No. 24.

Both teams rank in the Top 6 nationally in every event, and the squads are tied at No. 2 on bars and No. 3 on floor. Florida ranks higher on vault at No. 3 compared to LSU’s No. 6 ranking, but the Tigers outrank the Gators on beam at No. 1 to Florida’s No. 4 ranking.

Jordan is expected to be back in the all-around this week for LSU after sitting out the Georgia meet two weeks ago and only competing on bars and beam last week at Auburn.

Florida also added depth this week as junior Bridget Sloan was cleared to compete on bars in this meet. It would mark her first performance since the season opener.

The meet will be televised on a tape-delay basis. Melissa Lee (play-by-play), Courtney Kupets Carter (analyst) and Suri Serano (reporter) will call the action. The meet will air for the first time on Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The meet will also be available online at www.WatchESPN.com.

Live stats will be available on www.LSUsports.net/livestats.?

Fans can connect with the Tigers on the team’s social media outlets: www.Facebook.com/lsugym,?@LSUgym on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, and www.YouTube.com/lsugymnastics.

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