No. 18 Tigers travel to No. 1 Florida for a Friday meet

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 18 Auburn gymnastics team will face No. 1 Florida for the second time this season, traveling to Gainesville for a Friday night meet, Feb. 26. The Tigers and the Gators will face off at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
 
"This meet is going to be really important for us," head coach Jeff Graba said. "Our goal is to come away with a good score and I think it is possible this Friday. We're focused on putting together a really good performance against the Gators. This is our second meet against the No. 1 team this year and we're looking forward to another challenge."
 
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.
 
Being the road squad, the Tigers will start on bars and head to vault. They continue on floor and then close out the night on beam.
 
The first rotation puts Auburn on bars. The team is coming off a season-best 49.475 vs. Georgia as four Tigers reached or tied career bests in the event. Five of the six competitors set to perform are sophomores.
 
Sophomore Anna Summer will once again lead off and is coming off a career-high 9.85. Classmate Piper Smith is set to go second with sophomore Adeline Sabados going third. Sophomore Cassie Stevens will go fourth following a 9.875 last week, tying her career best.
 
Sophomore Aria Brusch is slated to go fifth following a big routine against the Bulldogs last week. She set a career-best with a 9.925. Auburn's anchor will be junior Derrian Gobourne. The Sarasota, Fla., product won the bars title last week with a career-high 9.95.
 
The squad moves on the vault for rotation two. Freshman Payton Smith leads off for the sixth-straight meet. Piper Smith is set to go second with Sabados third.
 
Senior Drew Watson will make her debut in the fourth spot following a season-best 9.9 vs. Georgia. Gobourne, who captured the vault title against the Bulldogs, will go fifth after a season high 9.925. Stevens is set to anchor.
 
The third rotation puts the Tigers on floor where the team also set a season-best last week with a 49.350. Sophomore Morgan Leigh Oldham will lead off for the squad, while Sabados will go second to finish her full evening.
 
Freshman Olivia Hollingsworth will compete for the first time on the night, going third for the team on floor. The Seabrook, Texas, native is coming off a career-high 9.875 against Georgia. Stevens is set to go fourth after earning a 9.9 last week with Watson going fifth. Gobourne will anchor for the team after winning the event title last week.
 
Auburn caps the night on beam with Watson leading off. Brusch will go second with Hollingsworth going third. Hollingsworth also set a career best on beam last week with a 9.8.
 
Senior and beam specialist Meredith Sylvia is slated to compete fourth for the Tigers as she continues to improve throughout the year. Freshman beamer Gabby McLaughlin will go fifth with Stevens anchoring.
 
UP NEXT
Auburn closes out the 2021 regular season at home, hosting No. 6 Arkansas in Auburn Arena. The teams will square off at 7 p.m. CT, March 5, on SEC Network+.