AUBURN, Ala. – There's still a buzz around Auburn after the gymnastics team knocked off No. 4 LSU with a season-high score of 196.700 on Friday night. It's the first time the Tigers, who moved up to No. 13 in the rankings this week, have started a season 2-0 since 2016.
However, the focus has already shifted away from LSU and is now squarely on Saturday's meet at Missouri, the team's first road meet of the season.
"Every single week is a new week and a new challenge," senior Abby Milliet said. "It's definitely the mindset of when you do well, you put your head down and you work even harder. You don't let off the gas."
There's also the challenge of going on the road. The first two meets were inside Auburn Arena, which had a sellout crowd against LSU. But head coach Jeff Graba reminded his team Monday that the postseason won't take place in Auburn Arena. The Tigers have to learn how to go on the road and compete in different environments.
"It's going to be a big test," Graba said. "It's going to be a crazy weekend. It's an afternoon meet. So there a lot of different things going on. But really it's very simple: we have to do what we did on Friday night, and we probably have to over perform that a little bit on Saturday just to rise to the occasion."
IN THE RANKINGS
After Auburn posted a 196.700 to knock off No. 4 LSU on Friday night, it was no surprise to see the Tigers move up four spots to No. 13 this week per the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association.
All eight teams from the SEC are now ranked in the Top 20 after Florida made its season debut Friday and jumped to No. 3 in the rankings. LSU dropped a spot to No. 5 while Georgia are Missouri and tied at No. 10. Following those four is Auburn (No. 13), Arkansas (No. 14), Kentucky (No. 16) and Alabama (t-No. 17). Nationally, Oklahoma and UCLA stayed put at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, and Utah (No. 4) also made the Top 5 for the second straight week.
INSIDE THE SERIES: MISSOURI
Auburn is 26-9 all-time against Missouri, which includes a perfect 7-0 mark at home and a 12-1 record at neutral sites. The first loss came in last year's SEC championship.
The two sides met last year in what was the first SEC meet for both teams, and Auburn earned a 196.625-194.975 victory at home. Two years prior, the Tigers posted a 197.200 – the fifth-highest overall score in team history – to beat Missouri inside Auburn Arena.
AUBURN LINEUP
If it's not broke, don't fix it. The Auburn coaching staff might experiment on a couple different routines this weekend, but the lineup for Saturday looks largely similar to the lineup they used to beat LSU on Friday.
Auburn will begin the meet on bars, and after earning the second-highest score in program history (49.500) last week, no changes will be made to the lineup
Sophomore Drew Watson will lead things and will be followed by senior Taylor Krippner, freshman Derrian Gobourne and senior Samantha Cerio. Watson, Krippner and Cerio all scored a 9.900 last week, and Gobourne wasn't far behind with a 9.875. Next up is senior Abby Milliet, who won the event title against LSU with a team-best 9.925. Then it will be anchor Gracie Day, who has an average of 9.838 through the first two meets.
The second rotation for Auburn will be on vault, and that lineup will also remain the same after the Tigers posted a season-best 49.125 the week before.
Junior Katie Becker will lead off for the second straight week, and then it will be Day, a 2018 All-SEC performer on the event, followed by A'Miracal Phillips and Gobourne. Fifth will be Watson, who currently leads the team and is ranked top 20 nationally with an average of 9.863 through two meets, and the team will close the event with sophomore Jada Glenn.
The first sign of changes for Auburn will come on floor, the third rotation, with junior Emma Slappey making her 2019 season debut and starting things off for the Tigers. Slappey finished last year with eight scores of 9.8 or higher on floor.
Junior Skyler Sheppard will follow in second and then Watson, who went fifth last week, will move up to the third spot. Next up is Gobourne, who won the individual title on floor against LSU, with a 9.950, and the Tigers will finish up with two seniors, Milliet (No. 5) and Cerio (No. 6).
The final rotation of the meet will come on beam where Auburn is currently tops in its region and ranked No. 8 nationally with an average score of 49.075 through two meets.
The first two in the lineup will not change with Watson and Gobourne. But then it will be Milliet moving up one spot and switching with Krippner, who falls to the fourth slot. Next up is sophomore Meredith Sylvia, the team's anchor on the event the first two meets. Instead, Sheppard will move back one spot and serve as the anchor against Missouri.
Sheppard, Sylvia and Milliet are all currently ranked in the Top 35 nationally on beam.
UP NEXT
Auburn will return home next week to host rival Georgia on Friday, Jan. 25. The "All Auburn, All Orange" meet is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network. Fans are encouraged to wear orange.
No. 13 Auburn faces first road test at No. 10 Missouri
