Feb. 24, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Auburn put together one its better road meets of the season with a score of 195.150 as it finished second behind host Kentucky's 195.525 in a road tri-meet with the Wildcats and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh scored 193.325 to finish third on the night.
"I thought we did a really good job tonight," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "The girls really fought tonight. It's tough when you don't have Bri (Guy) and Lexus (Demers). It was fun to see the others rise to the occasion. Unfortunately, the score doesn't reflect how good of a night we really had. We went 24-for-24 tonight. I thought we did a really good job."
Auburn came out of the gate focused and took a five-tenth lead after one rotation. The Tigers scored 49.175 on bars, their third-best total this season, behind identical 9.850 scores from Kylie Shields and Megan Walker. Competing against her former team, Nikki Galluzzo led off with a 9.775. Petrina Yokay, Abbey Habicht and Allyson Sandusky each scored 9.825 as the Tigers put together a strong event from top to bottom.
On the second rotation, the Tigers scored 48.075 on beam and were led by a 9.750 from Yokay. Kentucky was able to make up ground in the second rotation behind a 49.125 on bars.
Auburn took back the overall lead with a solid floor score of 49.125 in rotation three. A string of three-straight 9.850 scores by Shields, Webster and Garcia propelled the Tigers to its third-best score on floor exercise this season. Yokay scored 9.725 in just her second floor rotation of the season and first since January 6, but was penalized one-tenth for stepping out.
Webster's 9.850 was a season and career high for the freshman.
Auburn held a slight lead of just 0.025 over host Kentucky heading into the fourth and final rotation. For Auburn, that meant vault. In her only event of the night, Bri Guy posted a 9.850 to pace the Tigers on vault with a total score of 48.800.
Kentucky scored 49.200 on floor in the final rotation to overcome Auburn's lead and earn the win.
Auburn is in action next on Friday, March 2, when it hosts Southern Utah for its annual Pink Meet. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT.
TOTALS
Vault: Sandusky - 9.700, Webster - 9.750, Shields - 9.750, Guy - 9.850, Garcia - 9.725, Yokay - 9.725, TOTAL - 48.600
Bars: Galluzzo - 9.775, Habicht - 9.825, Walker - 9.850, Yokay - 9.825, Sandusky - 9.825, Shields - 9.850, TOTAL - 49.175
Beam: Yokay - 9.750, Kadous - 9.475, Walker - 9.725, Habicht - 9.600, Sandusky - 9.350, Shields - 9.525, TOTAL - 48.075
Floor: Lane - 9.800, Kadous - 9.750, Shields - 9.850, Webster - 9.850, Garcia - 9.850, Yokay - 9.625, TOTAL - 49.100
All-Around: Shields - 38.975, Yokay - 38.925