AUBURN, Ala. – Coming off of a big home performance last week, the No. 20 Auburn gymnastics team will head to Baton Rouge for its first true road test, facing off with No. 7 LSU Friday night. The two Tiger teams will go head-to-head on SEC Network at 7:30 p.m. CT in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
"I think you learn a lot more on the road than you do at home," head coach Jeff Graba said. "You're against people on the road—the crowd, environment, equipment and all that stuff. That'll come in handy if we can handle it well. I think the team needs to figure this out themselves, and they need to work together. If they do that on the road and have some success with battling the elements, then we'll get better immensely."
Auburn is hoping to feed off of the same intense energy that they were able to stir up last weekend in the rival meet against Alabama where the Tigers came out on top.
"I think that [last Friday's meet against Alabama] definitely increased our confidence—just knowing that we are the talented team that Jeff [Graba] keeps talking about," junior all-arounder Drew Watson said. "We got a pretty good score and we still left some stuff on the table, so that also adds to our confidence."
The Tigers are looking forward to not only traveling to their first SEC road meet, but to continue to improve and showcase what they are capable of. Their mindset going into the competition is to continue to build off of the energy they have worked hard for.
"I think it's cool to be in the other spot when you're on the road," Watson said. "You use the energy how you want it to."
AUBURN LINEUP
A similar lineup to last week's is currently set for Auburn at LSU this weekend.
Junior Drew Watson will be the team's lone all-arounder, marking the second time this season and 22nd time in her career she'll compete in all four events. Watson set a career high in the category last year vs. Arkansas with a 39.625.
Rotation one has the squad on bars and a trio of freshmen will kick things off starting with Cassie Stevens. Classmate Adeline Sabados follows and Aria Brusch will go third. Brusch's 9.838 average in the event is second on the squad. Watson is slotted in the fourth spot with senior Gracie Day following. Day has a team-best 9.85 average. Sophomore Derrian Gobourne will anchor following a career-best performance last week vs. the Tide when she won the event with a 9.925.
Vault is up next and senior Skyler Sheppard will once again lead off the event. Junior Jada Glenn with follow and Day will go third. Stevens is fourth and Watson, who has a team-best 9.9 average so far this year, is fifth. Gobourne, the 2019 NCAA Co-Champion in the event, will anchor the Tigers.
Auburn will move on to floor in the third rotation and sophomore Sabrina Cheney is down in the lead-off spot. The start will be the first for the Port Orange, Fla., product. Senior Emma Slappey is second with Brusch going third. Brusch set a career best against Alabama, scoring a 9.875. Sheppard and Watson follow after each went 9.9 last week and Gobourne will close things out.
The fourth and final rotation has the Tigers on beam with Slappey going first. The Jacksonville, Fla., native has scored back-to-back 9.8s for Auburn in the lead-off spot. Brusch and Stevens are up next with junior Meredith Sylvia in the fourth spot. Sylvia, of Macungie, Pa., has started in every meet in the event since her freshman year. Watson, who tied her career high with a 9.875 vs. Alabama, is fifth and Sheppard will anchor. Sheppard won the event title against the Crimson Tide with a 9.925.