AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 19 Auburn gymnastics team welcomes No. 12 Georgia to the Plains Friday, Feb. 19, for a Southeastern Conference contest. The Tigers and the Bulldogs will face off at 7 p.m. CT in Auburn Arena and the meet will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
"Georgia coming to town and they are always a premiere program," head coach Jeff Graba said. "They just beat Alabama with a big score, so they are definitely rolling. We need to approcah this meet just as we did two weeks ago against LSU at home. This week's mentality needs to be focused on taking care of the little things so that we are prepared for the postseason."
EVENT INFORMATION
In accordance with current state health COVID-19 guidelines, Auburn Arena capacity will be reduced to approximately 20% for the 2021 Auburn gymnastics season. Tickets for home meets have been reserved for Auburn students as well as season ticket holders who opted in. No single meet tickets will be available in 2021.
To meet SEC protocol and to allow for proper physical distancing, the team corrals will take up the west side of the arena floor. Bleachers in sections D-N will be unavailable for student/fan seating for the 2021 season. In addition, seating in sections A-C will not be available. Available seats will be arranged in groups of two and four with 6 feet of distancing between each block of seats. Unavailable seats will be marked accordingly.
Face coverings (over the nose and mouth) will be required for all spectators and gameday workers upon entry and while inside the arena. Guests may remove face coverings while actively eating or drinking. Additional information related to health and safety guidelines for Auburn Arena will be communicated directly to ticket holders.
More information can be found at the Auburn Gymnastics Meet Day website by clicking HERE.
AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn tentative lineup features 17 of 24 possible routines coming from sophomores or freshmen. Of the 17, 12 will come from the sophomore class.
Auburn will kick things off on vault and then head to bars, beam and floor as the home squad.
The first rotation has the Tigers on vault with freshman Payton Smith leading off for the fifth-straight meet. Sophomores Piper Smith and Adeline Sabados follow in spots two and three. The trio will compete Yurchenko fulls for the team to kick off the event.
The team's next three vaulters are expected to do Yurchenko 1.5s, starting with senior Drew Watson. The Tyler, Texas, product is coming off back-to-back 9.875s, winning the event title at Missouri last week. Junior Derrian Gobourne is slated to compete fifth and ranks in the Top 25 nationally in the event with a 9.860 average. Sophomore Cassie Stevens will anchor as she is hoping to debut her Yurchenko 1.5 for the first time this year.
Auburn continues to bars with five of the six spots going to members of the sophomore class. Sophomore Anna Sumner will lead things off. She is coming off a career-best 9.8 at Missouri.
Piper Smith will go second and Sabados is set to go third. Sabados picked up a 9.8 for the team last week on the road as well. Stevens follows in fourth and sophomore Aria Brusch will make her meet debut in the fifth slot. Gobourne will anchor the event.
The team moves on to beam for the third rotation where the squad has seen consistent success throughout the year. The Tigers rank 17th nationally in the event with a 48.975 average.
Watson will lead off for the sixth-straight meet and is one of four Tigers to rank in the Top 25 regionally. Brusch will go second and is also among the Top 25. Freshman Olivia Hollingsworth returns to the beam lineup after two meets away and will go third.
Senior Meredith Sylvia is set to go fourth and is coming off a pair of strong showings. She earned a season-best 9.9 vs. LSU (Feb. 5) and followed with a 9.85 last week on the road.
Highlighting the rotation is freshman Gabby McLaughlin, who has won two-straight beam titles for the team. The Irving, Texas, native set a career high last week at Missouri with a 9.95. Stevens will anchor for the third time this year.
The final rotation puts the team on floor and McLaughlin is slated to lead things off. Sabados returns to the floor lineup and will be second, while Hollingsworth is in the third spot. Hollingsworth put together a career-best 9.8 last week for Auburn.
Stevens will close out her all-around night going fourth for the team. Watson is set to go fifth with Gobourne anchoring. Gobourne earned her second-straight floor title last week against Missouri with a 9.925.
UP NEXT
Auburn faces No. 1 Florida for the second time this season, traveling to Gainesville next week. The Tigers and the Gators will go head-to-head in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network, Feb. 26.
No. 19 Auburn faces No. 12 Georgia in Auburn Arena Friday
